Attached Strings
by Moshy H
Summary: Ismene Diana Masen died before her family while being held hostage. Being given another chance at life, she is returned to Earth finding her brother, love and a lot more problems. Who is this girl? And why does she have a connection to the Volturi?
1. Painful

**Title: A Little Too Late**

**Disclaimer: She stole my story…tears Revenge shall be mine Stephenie Meyers. Revenge shall be mine. In addition, I would like to thank my beta Zinthafan for helping me with my story.**

**Chapter One- Painful**

**_Her head hurt, driving itself into a frenzy of pain just from confusion. Forest green eyes slowly opening, only to see an array of darkness. 'I can't see.' She panicked. 'I can't see.' Her thought whirled around her mind, too fast for her to focus on one of them as her breath quickened. Where was she? She wondered. Why couldn't she see anything? What was happening? Another bump made her head bounce then land hard against the surface of what ever she was laying on. Some trunk of a car, she realized. Opening her mouth, she struggled to form words, finding they were blocked. Frowning in confusion, she stuck her tongue out and met cloth. _**

**_She was gagged, she realized, starting to struggle._**

**_She tried to move her arms around to her front, but soon found that she was bound too. What had happened? Trying to recall whatever had occurred, she thought back to whatever was happening. She could not remember, she panicked. Whatever was happening to her had infected her mind! She didn't know what to do, trying to piece out the answer to 1 + 1, finding it equaled 121- knowing it wasn't right…2 X 2 she tried again, knowing 4 would be wrong, and finally settling that 3/ 3 couldn't be -3, she gave up, trying to recall who she WAS at least, a girl- 'good,' she thought to herself. 'At least you're not a guy,' she whispered in her mind, knowing how horrendous they were, and then was not so sure herself. Green eyes, she knew, always wondering why she'd never had blue, the color of the sky, of freedom and then thought back to why she'd never had black…the color of eyes she'd always wanted- it would have represented the hidden secrets she wanted to hide. With black eyes, she could blind in the crowd, never noticed, never watched, but could easily see. She would see the hordes of giggling girls, whispering comments about the male population, but they would never see her disgust or despise. Her eyes were too dark to read, too mysterious to figure out. Perhaps, she pondered, it would have been easier for her to mess with her brother if her eyes were darker and not easily read. _**

**_Her thoughts, being interrupted by another bump, flew from her mind as she closed her eyes and tried to calm down. _**

"**_I….know…Ismene…woman…as…hostage." Her eyes snapped open as she realized she had been kidnapped. She remembered now, the two men, the gag, the rope, the bag, her mother, father and brother's frightened faces. She had been taken hostage. Rolling over, she scooted until she pressed her ear against the only fluffy material in this bumpy thing. "Ismene….hostage…girl…money or dies." Her body went ridged. They were going to KILL her. Her mind went into overdrive and she began to struggle, tugging against the tight bonds, screaming into the cloth and squirming in the tiny space. As her breath came in faster gasps of air, she closed her eyes tight, holding back tears of frustration and fear. She was dreaming…yeah. She was just dreaming. This was all a very vivid dream with voices and a bumpy ride. This had to be dreaming…she could not die yet. She had so much to live for! The car stopped suddenly, slamming her into the back of the trunk yet again._**

**_The trunk opened suddenly and trees greeted her eyes. 'I can see. Thank you God!' She thought, one of her problems solved. Two men, dressed completely in black, hoisted her out of the trunk and, non-too-gently- tossed her on the ground. "Listen up girl," one began "If your mother doesn't pay us—" He gestured between the two of them. "You will pay the price." She shivered in unnatural amounts of fear and cried out in shock as one man hoisted her up and placed her on his shoulders, face first, as if she was a mere feather. "Come along nicely and maybe we won't hurt you." She did not trust that statement at all, but while most of her was freaking out, a small part of her imprinted their voices into her mind, just in case she lived to get them arrested. 'Hurry up Mom!' Ismene thought, frantically, glancing at both brawny and evil looking men. Something about their eyes, the way they gleamed darkly, showing deadly mysteries too fast for you to catch one of them, their smirks, firmly imprinted on their faces, holding fatal secrets, torturous scandals, their voices dark, deep and scary. Everything that came out of their mouths, ended in fearful hints, and the fact they wanted to kill her made her shudder in dread, fear and think they were up to no good. 'Duh Ismene! Great way to state the obvious.' She shook her head free of those thoughts, and watched markings go by. Maybe she could escape and make it to the police. 'False hope.' Her conscience whispered to her. 'Hurry.'_**

**_Bone-breaking coughs rang through the small warehouse, as she felt her throat dry up, going sore. Glancing at the two men with blurred vision, she closed her eyes. She seriously needed some water, but those men… they were so terrifying. 'Ok Ismene. You have done this before. You have faced your angry father before; compared to that, this will be a piece of cake.'_**

"**_Excuse me?" Her raspy voice made her blink in surprise. It was so different from her normal voice; it made her think someone else had spoken. "Can I have some water?" She flinched as their glare burned a hole in her body. One man stood up, grabbed a bucket of water and to her surprise, dumped its contents upon her body. Quickly getting over the shock of it all, she opened her mouth and sighed. It tasted weird and slightly old, but it was still refreshing to her sore throat. Leaning against the wall behind her, she shook extra water droplets from her eyes and studied the two men. They did not seem to be a threat, well considering the circumstances. Squirming until she fell over, she felt her eyelids droop. She would only take a few winks of sleep, just to build her immune system and regain her strength. If those men pulled some funny business, still considering the circumstances, she would have to be ready. As her lashes began to rest upon her cheeks, she focused upon the image of her family, it soothing her to a form of peaceful sleep._**

**_More coughs, an even sorer throat, she found she could barely make out the figures of her captors. A few days had passed, but to her, it easily felt like years. Her body was weak, her mind foggy and her sense gone. She wanted-no needed her mother's help. She needed her mother's "cure for everything" soup. 'Hmmm, soup with chunks of chicken in it and a small dash of pepper.' Her stomach growled in reprimand for such thinking. Sighing, she forgot about the soup and tried to focus on something other than her body. However, it was just too hard. Every time she breathed, it had to be with her mouth and then it felt like the air was filled with bacteria waiting to kill her. Every time she coughed, it felt like her bones were going to pop out of her. Moreover, every time she drank water, it felt and tasted excessively dirty and scratchy against her throat. 'The men keep glancing over here,' she thought, smiling a weak smile. 'They're worried their source of income would die. At least they won't get the money.' Coughing, she fell over again and did not even try to move. She needed just a few more winks of sleep. She knew she would wake up and be fine. 'At least now,' she thought, smiling once more. 'I can dream of some other life, maybe one with my brother playing with me, or me teasing my father about his baldness or even me sneaking tastes of my mother's cooking when she isn't looking.' Her eyelids started to close. Everything would be all right, she hoped. For she knew, she would either be in her family's warm embrace or the Lord's welcoming hands. _**

"**_Ismene Diana Masen, step forward." A voice boomed in front of her. Her eyes opened and saw a rather large man standing about a foot away from her, holding a book for her to place her hand on. She took a small and nervous step forward and stared at the book as if it were a venomous snake waiting to sink its fangs into her hand. "Hurry up!" Someone called from behind her. She turned slightly and tensed a bit. 'Such a long line.' She thought, wistfully, wondering what they wanted and just why was she here. She glanced around and began to shiver in fear. There was nothing but darkness. Only four very small slivers of light made its way to her eyes. The very long staircase behind her and three paths. They were a strange misty gray, each leading onto different places. She guessed one was for heaven, the other hell, but what was the third one? She turned back to the man and gasped as she saw his lifeless black eyes. "Please place your hand upon the book." He mindlessly asked, offering her the book once more. She finally did what was asked of her and felt a jolt of lightning course through her body. "You have been chosen to enter the Gates of…" He took a deep breath, his eyes moving back and forth as if searching for something. Ismene glanced at the paths in front of her and noticed the two gates were opening at the same time. _**

"**_It seems you are not good enough for Heaven." He whispered. The Gates for Heaven closed with a resounding bang before disappearing into the darkness again. She gasped. She had always been the good one in the family. Okay sure, she had broken her brother's favorite toy car collection on purpose, and yes, she had poured vinegar in her father's shampoo bottle and a few other grievances, but she was not bad enough for Hell. 'But then again. I think I read somewhere, that 99 out of hundred women are cursed to Hell. Was it that weird religion that girl used to go to? What was her name?' She was broken out of her thoughts as the Gates of Hell closed and returned to the darkness as well. "You are also not bad enough for Hell." She smiled a bright smile, ready to do the victory dance. 'I am the one woman who isn't cursed to Hell.' She let out a big breath of relief, a cloud of happiness surrounding her mind, but then gave away to a cloud of confusion. "So for your afterlife, you will be sent back to Earth to live and the next time you die, you will be tested again." He closed the book, muttered a few words and then stepped aside. She glanced at the green and blue gates, before making her way to them. The gates creaked open and she stepped forward, right into a dark abyss that seemed to consume her body._**

**_She continued to fall. 'It's exhilarating, feeling the air rush around me, but come on. It loses its taste after a while.' Her conscience whispered in her mind. She nodded to agree. She had stopped screaming. Was she meant to float here for all eternity? If so, then why scream herself hoarse without any water in sight? Shaking her head, she felt the air gradually slow down. Turning, she saw the ground coming up to meet her. She twisted her body so she would land on her feet. Landing, she noted the soft clicking noise her heels made under her, giggling slightly at the sound. Looking around, she walked a few steps forward before hearing glass breaking. _**

**_Glancing at the bottom of her feet, she gasped as the surface she was standing on started to break. Running forward, panicking, and screaming as it broke from under her, the scenery changed, turning easily from black, into a flurry of blue and white. Glancing below her, she smiled as she was finally on Earth. Bad thing was that she was falling from the sky. How was she going to survive the fall? 'Stupid death' she thought, closing her eyes. Feeling the air stop once again, she cracked an eye open and took notice of the blue and white. Glancing below her, she noticed the tiny buildings and people bustling about. What was she doing in the air? Taking a hesitant step, she cried out as her foot met nothing that could be considered a surface. Waving her arms, she coughed as some invisible string wrapped itself tighter around her throat. Lowering her arms, she felt it loosen. Unclenching her hand, she gave a short cry as she began to fall again. What was happening?_**

**_Tightening her fist once more, she gasped in amazement as she had stopped falling. Throwing her wrist, she flew upwards. "˜Interesting", she laughed, smiling, as she thrust her fist forward and began to look for a place to settle. Seeing an empty alley, she unclenched her hand all the way and fell too fast for anyone to notice her. Compressing her hands this time, she lowered herself gently as the buildings covered her body. _**

_**She smiled and moved out of the alley. **_

"_**A new beginning." She whispered, taking in a deep breath. This time, she was going to do this right, knowing that this time- she would not let anyone stand in her way. **_


	2. Deceitful

**Chapter Two- Deceitful**

'**This was not what I had in mind.' She thought, sliding her body down a bit more in the, much to her dislike, uncomfortable chair. She glanced out of the window and looked longingly at the bustling people, wishing she were one of them. Oh-how she wished she could run around outside, laughing, smiling, being free. **

**A mental chuckle rang through her mind as she watched a little boy buy some ice cream. He was one of those cute small things, looking like he was a wolf ready to chomp upon its prey as the ice cream man handed him his vanilla cone. He skipped back to his mother, only to trip, spilling the paid for contents on the ground. Tears, big and round began to pour down his soft cheeks. The mother rushed over, frowning a bit, wiped his eyes and went to the ice cream man, who had already made another one, free of charge. She thanked him gracefully and handed the cone to her son who in return, giggled happily and walked along with his mother by her side. **

**Glancing at the other busy students and frigid teacher, she sighed and continued to gaze contemplatively out the window. She cursed the idiotic person who had knocked her out, and forced her into an orphanage. "Miss Waters! I believe I asked you a question." Ismene snapped out of her daydream and turned towards the dull but fierce teacher. One would think that she would be nice, with her curly blonde hair and intense bright blue eyes, but that was before one got to know her. She demanded nothing less than perfection from all her students. Their gray button down shirts and grey pants had to be pressed neatly and sharply, hair had to combed, body had to be free of all dirt, nails trimmed and cleaned, and all shoes had to be shined. 'I would have rather gone to Hell. It's better than here.' She thought, rolling her eyes. "I am sorry Ms. Rumtlic, but could you please repeat the question?" Her many frowns lines became prominent as she marched back up to the front of the mini-jail the students called a classroom. **

"**I asked you what four times 3 minus 15 plus two was." She replied, smirking in her direction. 'Are you serious?' Ismene thought. In her past life 'which is cool how I can say that' she thought, she had been the top of her class and even completed her brother's homework faster than he could. As the class moved toward their slates, (the orphanage thought it would save money if they used slates instead of paper) Ismene sighed and continued to look out the window. "The answer is -1." She replied, not even moving towards her slate. She rarely needed it anymore. "Very good Ms. Waters, but next time, maybe you should pay attention." Her clipped and firm voice sent a shudder down other students' spines but not hers. She had seen, been with and had been taught by a lot worse than just Ms. Rumtlic- who at least **_**cared **_**for them unlike the other teachers she'd had previously Like one of her now deceased teachers, Ms. Hanatin. She was sent straight from Hell to torment her. It was like every time Ismene did something wrong, Ms. Hanatin would make it her personnel responsibility to punish her, in her own ways. 'I can't even count how many times I stayed after school, cleaning chalkboards and scrubbing the floors.' She glanced again at the students trying to keep up and sighed. Life here in 'Sunsets Orphanage' was getting to her. She needed fun, excitement, something to do besides wanting the next childless couple to come adopt someone to take home and work as their slave. **

**A small giggle escaped her lips at the silly thought, summoning the class's attention to her. "Ms. Waters, is there something funny going on here?" The teacher asked, marching up to her desk. Ismene, frowning deeply, stood. She had reached her limit. With, gruel for lunch, having to share absolutely everything with everyone, frigid teachers who though they were scary, 'Not.' Ismene thought silently to herself, and an irritating guy who just would not quit, her eyes flashed to the empty seat the right of her, the seat owned by Damion Kaman. "Yeah there is something funny here. Your face!" The entire classroom burst into hysterics as if they had never heard a joke before. 'They probably haven't.' She thought, rolling her eyes. Ms. Rumtlic turned a lovely shade of red and grabbed Ismene's arm, forcing her to follow her down the hall to the Headmaster's office. Ismene growled and tried to push the desperately in need of some lotion hands off her tender arm, but the grip stayed firm. Digging her feet into the floor, she cried out as Ms. Rumtlic tugged her arm harder, forcing her to decide between walking to the Headmaster's office and having a dislocated shoulder. **

"**Sign in." The lazy drawl from the woman at the front desk failed to make her intentional scare. Glancing around the room, she signed her barely readable scrawl of a name and sat down in the torn grey chair. The room's walls were peeling, the carpet had many stains on it, only two chairs were in the room, the one she was sitting in and the lady's chair, a pile of very old books stood stacked in a corner and a dim light hung overhead. Ismene yawned and waited for her to meet the Headmaster. "And let's make sure to use proper language Mr. Kaman." Her head snapped up and glanced at the portly man and the tall teen standing in the doorway to his small office. As the office door closed, he turned around to meet the slightly surprised look of Ismene. 'Interesting girl.' He thought to himself. He was not big on meeting new orphans, particularly girl orphans, for all they did was whine and cry. He met her green eyes and smirked. **

"**Ismene Waters, right?" He asked, coming to stand in front of her. **

**She frowned deeply at his mocking tone, before standing. She stood as tall as she could, but was still a good head shorter than he was. **

"**What's it to you?" **

**He shrugged in a way that made her blood boil. **

"**I'd never expect smart girl in here." His smirk grew as her frown deepened. **

"**Listen you," she growled, taking a step forward and was nose to nose with him. "I do not like you, nor do I like this place. I advise you to stay away from me before bad things start to happen." She tightened her fist slightly, just to give him a squeeze. **

**If he was affected by her threat and powers, he did not show it.**

"**Ismene, come into my office." The Headmaster appeared and she turned away from him. She moved to walk over to the man, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her. Green met black. Smirking slightly, he let her go and strolled out of the office, whistling a tune foreign to her ears. "Ms. Waters, let's get this over with." She stepped into the tiny office and door closed.**

"**Ms. Waters, why are you here?" Ismene stayed quiet just gazing at the man in front of her. He frowned a bit and continued to wait, thinking Ismene was just thinking about her actions. In all honesty, said girl was not even looking at him, more like through him. Her mind was currently running around with thoughts Damion. 'Why did he touch my shoulder? What was that smirk about? Moreover, why did he suddenly start whistling that tune? It sounds somewhat familiar, but so foreign… He's probably just messing with my mind and trying to get me to like him, just like all the other girls in my class.' It was a well-known fact to Ismene that Damion Kaman was the most sought after boy in the orphanage. Shaking her head, she snapped her eyes to the frustrated eyes of the headmaster. **

"**I was being very disruptive and rude to the teacher and class. I hope she accepts my apologies." Ismene whispered, laying the apologetic tone of voice on thick and truthfully replying. She had been a bit mean, taking her wants and dreams out on poor Ms. Rumtlic. 'I was mean, but she has been mean to me, so what goes around, comes around.' She thought, shrugging mentally. Shaking her head, she placed a fake and sorry smile on her face. The Headmaster grinned and nodded. Standing, he walked toward her door. "Since this is your first offense, I shall let you off with a warning. Have a nice day Ms. Waters." He opened the door. She bowed gracefully and left the cramped room.**

'**Suckers.' She smirked, closing the door behind her and walking out of the office.**


	3. Mindful

**Title- Mindful**

**She watched the small clock located in her and the other girls' room tick away at the time. It was 1:00 a.m. and she still could not fall asleep. She had even went to bed early, mainly to avoid another "Oh my gosh Damion is so cute" discussion. Something was keeping her awake and she wanted it to stop, her with big bags under her eyes were by far **_**not **_**a pretty sight- they definitely didn't have conceal or anything at this "orphanage" to help her hide it either, and now she couldn't sleep, and she would wake up looking like she'd been out all night and they would question her relentlessly- and 'how', she though, 'how I can't stand their faces'. Maybe it was the fact that Rose Cooper kept snoring in her ear, or that Damion Kaman was stuck on her mind. 'The last one is wrong.' She thought, completely in denial. Damion Kaman was an arrogant, annoying, too cocky for his own good guy who had gleaming black eyes and a smirk that made your heart stop, with soft looking ebony hair. 'ACK! Stop thinking about him." She yelled furiously to her mind. **

**Sitting up, she placed lightly tanned feet against the cold wood floor before making sure all the other girls were sleep. Quietly, she slipped out of the bedroom to the bathroom to check her appearance. 'Not that I am trying to impress anyone. I just want to make sure my hair is okay.' Her eyes flickered to the dirty mirror as the dim light moved away the shadows. She looked fine, if you dismissed the tangled black hair, which was on her list of things to tame and the slight drool on her cheek, which was not very attractive. Splashing a bit of water 'Which is the only thing that is clean in this orphanage.' She thought, running her fingers through the mass of hair. It took her about four tries, but finally it was tamed and submissive. Walking back into the bedroom, she tugged on a sweatshirt and moved quietly out into the hallway. **

**It had been at least five minutes since she had reached the "forbidden" door. She chuckled silently as she remembered how the nerdy girl orphans joked how the boys kept Fluffy from Harry Potter in there. 'The boys' room is not forbidden,' she calmly reminded herself 'It is just a room.' She had read the rusted symbol at least ten times. She had walked back to her dorm then came back at least twice. Taking a deep breath, she mentally told her hands to stop shaking, trying to figure out she was risking being shipped to another orphanage just because she was sneaking into the boys' room. Turning the knob, she pushed the door open slightly and saw all of the boys lying around. Some were wearing nothing but boxer shorts, others were wearing a towel, and some were not even wearing anything. Blushing and quiet, she stepped over the unconscious bodies in nervousness. Catching the sight of a stirring body, she tightened her strings and pulled herself up to the ceiling. She refused to be caught here. **

"**Damion, I think the teacher has gone to sleep." One boy said, sitting up. Unfortunately, for them, the teacher resting area was right next to theirs. The rest of them sat up and smirked. Now it was time for some fun. They turned on the dim light and sat around in a circle. Ismene could feel the sweat start to form. It looked like they would be up for awhile and all one of them had to do was look up and see her. "We are going to play truth or dare." One of them piped up, taking out an old root beer bottle. He spun the bottle and it landed on one with bright red hair. "Truth or dare?" **

"**Truth." There were a few "boos", but then it got quiet. "Is it true that you sleep with a teddy bear named Rupert?" The boy blushed in embarrassment, giving the group his answer. They continued like this for a bit before Ismene started to notice that she was falling. 'What?! Not now! Please dear God not now.' Nevertheless, she continued to move from the ceiling and onto the group. **

"**Damion truth or dare?" She froze and her strings snapped tight, levitating her in the air. "Truth."**

"**Is it true you find Ismene, the new orphan interesting?" The group leaned in close. He chuckled and nodded. Gasps filled the room. "Why?" **

"**I believe you have already asked you question." There were more "boos" and "awwws", but he grabbed the bottle and watched it spin. 'He finds me interesting?' Her thought raced. Most of them planting seeds of hope, forcing a crush to form that she, consciously, was unaware of. 'I can't believe he finds me interesting. I mean, of all the guys, Damion Kaman?' **

'**_It could be a freaky interest. Maybe he wants to find out your power.' _Her conscience whispered to her, making her frown. 'If he thinks he is going to win my trust and expose me, he is wrong.' She angrily thought. **

**She continued to watch this game go on and on until the bottle landed on Damion again. He sighed and waited for the question he knew was coming. "Truth or Dare?"**

"**Dare." There were a few grumbles. Of course, now, they could not question him about Ismene. He smirked. Unfortunately, he was dealing with his best friend for two years, who was good at finding loopholes. "You underestimate me, dear Damion." **

"**Why is that, Sir Adrian?"**

**He smirked darkly. "I dare you to tell us why you think Ismene is interesting." The quiet whoops of happiness echoed throughout the room. Damion grumbled, but knew this would have happened, considering his friend. "I find she is interesting because she isn't like most girls. She does not flock to me like them, in fact, she threatens me. I believe I have found my match." Ismene gasped, but luckily, everyone else had gasped, so it was drowned out. 'He has found his match?!' She blushed darkly. 'I never knew I could make such an impact.' Her fingers loosened, as she got deeper in thought. 'All because of one threat, he finds me interesting.' Deep inside her mind, she was doing the victory dance. 'Stupid boy.' She thought, smiling. **

**Her fingers slackened. She noticed just in time and struggled with her strings. They snapped angrily and then lowered her even more. 'Not now, please not now!' She screamed mentally before falling onto the group. Groans of pain and shock echoed throughout the room. All the boys opened their eyes to see….**

**The lights went out. **

**Ismene thanked the Gods that her strings still listened to her enough to flick the light off. Reaching her sense out, she saw the stringy outlines of all the boys trying to stop her from exiting. Tightening then loosening her fingers, she slammed her way out of the room and sprinted her way back to hers. She prayed that no one saw her face.**

**The wind continued to blow her black hair this way and that. Instead of wasting time on buying the "food" the "cafeteria" served, she decided to work with her strings. They were disobeying excessively. Days ago, they followed her fingers, but now they were snapping away from her and moving on its own. Sighing, she tightened her fingers and cried out as blood began to appear. 'What was that?' She thought, frowning. Did her strings just attack her? Grumbling, she blew upon the burning flesh. **

"**Are you okay?" She turned sharply to watch Damion move towards her. She saw the door close and knew he had just gotten here. "I'm uh, fine. I just reopened a wound." He walked up to her and gently opened her hand. Three tight slashes ran across her palm and pulsed red blood. He reached into his always with him knapsack and brought out a bottle of water. Moving her to the ledge, he pushed her hand over and ran the water against her palm. Blood was washed away and left her palm red, angry but feeling better. He pulled out a blue handkerchief that had in one corner a white "DCK" and wrapped it around her palm. "What does DCK stand for?" She asked, a bit breathlessly. His hands were soft and gentle, as he made sure that the wound was taken care of. Smiling lightly, he held her hand a bit longer. "It stands for my name; Damion Chase Kaman." He answered, rubbing a thumb against the tender wound. She blushed lightly and shivered. He gave her a look that made her think he just realized something before pushing her towards the door. **

"**Lunch is probably over, so we should start heading to class." She sighed in agreement and marched down the unstable stairs. "Thanks for fixing up my hand." She whispered, walking to into the hallway. He smirked. "I can't have little baby Ismene hurt, can I?" She tensed at this, but let it slide. "Whatever Damion Chase Kaman." She smirked back. He rolled his eyes and led her down the hall.**

"**I never really cared before now, but do you remember your parents?" She tensed and stopped in her tracks. "Why do you ask?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Because I see the way you gaze at the land below; mainly at children and families and stuff." He turned and stared into her eyes. She looked away, tears appearing in her eyes. "I do." She whispered, hating the audile shake in her voice. 'Why are you telling this to him? You promised yourself that you would never ever share your past. Too many questions, and you are bound to slip up somewhere.' The little voice in the back of her head screamed. "Did they give you away?" Damion prodded, knowing he was going too far. "No, they died from…old age." Truthfully, she did not know how they died, for she had died before she had seen them again, but she guessed since she was in a new time. **

"**I' m sorry." He gently comforted. She shook her head. "It's okay. I was with my relatives, so I wasn't there and I was a bit young so, I didn't have to have the traumatic experience." Her hands hid her face. Clear, salty tears fell from her chin onto the floor. 'Oh great. Start crying, IN FRONT OF HIM! He is like a wolf, ready to pounce on the first sign of weakness. You are signing your own death warrant for your social status. Besides, what makes his story different from all the others, the others who had been abused, assaulted, living on the streets- and him who had actually had a life before, barely knew of his past and barely had any memories. However, you remember everything. The sickness, the lost hope, the pain. Why are you doing this?!" **

**Damion did not care about their playful arguing. He did not care how much this went past his previous judgments. He did not care that he was showing Ismene a side that he had sealed away for good. All he could care about was the now-child in front of him. "Were you able to mourn?" He whispered gently into her hair, letting himself take her body into his arms. "No, my relatives refused to tell me what was wrong until I was old enough to understand. Then I ran away and became an orphan." She pressed her face against his chest in pure grief, forgetting about her "status". Right now, she needed someone's shoulder to cry on. The worry of being kidnapped, the fear of never seeing her parents again, the pain from the sickness, the feeling of death, the waking up and being in a new time, to have never been able to preserve see her loved ones again… It all came out in a rush of tears. The dam broke, the doors opened, the glass cracked. **

**She cried. **

**It was not until she calmed completely down that he released her from his hold. "Ismene." She smiled sadly and wiped the last few tears away. "Sorry about that. It's been too long." She muttered, drawing away from the wet spot she had created. Damion gazed at her, eyes full of understanding. She wanted to ask the same question he had asked her, but she knew it would be too much for one day. 'Class has probably already started.' She pondered absentmindedly. "Ismene, are you seriously okay?" She knew he was not asking of her health, more of her emotions. "Thanks to you." **

**He gave her a smile and hugged her one last time. "Do you want to go to class or ditch?" She gapped at him. "Are you out of your mind? Ms. Rumtlic would kill us, find some way to bring us back to life, just to kill us again for the fun of it." They laughed together. Maybe it was the very recent event that had taken place or maybe it was the things that had happened over the past few days, but somehow Ismene knew she could trust Damion. 'To an extent.' Her mind cautioned. 'Yes.' She agreed. 'I trust you Damion, but I don't trust you that much.'**

**Damion gazed into her eyes and mentally smirked. 'Ismene if only you knew of the things I can do.' He thought, continuing to laugh. **


	4. Wonderful

**Title- Wonderful**

**_Flames licked her body, but did not burn. The building crumbled around her but did not do her any harm. Tears filled her eyes as a barely alive body was cradled in her lap. She clutched the head to her chest and sobbed. This was all her fault. If she had just used her strings, she could have saved him. "Don't cry." His voice crocked, barely a whisper. He opened his eyes and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Even though it was a gesture to comfort her, she could not help but notice how the hand shook, practically vibrating against her; she did not want to know what was happening to him. She snapped her eyes open and gazed at him, knowing he was going to die but she could feel her heart clinging to a small flicker of hope. _**

"**_Why must everyone I love die?" She cried out, brushing her cheek against his. _**

"**_It would be futile to say, don't worry I will be okay, but please continue to live for me." He croaked out, smiling. _**

"**_How can I live for you without you there?" Footsteps could now be heard. _**

"**_She's coming. You must leave me." He whispered urgently, trying to push her away. "No! I will not leave your body to that woman." She cradled him close and waited for the end of her and him. He tried to push her again, but ended up giving the last ounces of his strength. He had lost too much blood. _**

"**_I must ask something of you." He begged quietly, eyes gazing into hers._**

"_**What?" She gazed into his eyes. They were fading faster than before. "Will you kiss me?" **_

"**_You can really pick out bad times to ask for stuff." She whispered, smiling sadly. She leaned her face down and closed her eyes. Her first and more than likely last kiss would be with…_**

**_All thought left her mind as his lips met hers. They were soft and gentle, gently coaxing her to respond. Apparently, she had been wrong before, now he was giving up his last ounces of strength, just to feel her touch. She pressed back and felt the tears fall. 'Goodbye Damion.' She thought, feeling her chest tighten to unbearable limits. She was losing the only thing she had left. What was she going to do? A life without Damion was a life not worth living. _**

**_Tears fell faster._**

**_Nevertheless, for Damion's sake, she would not let him see how much this was killing her. _**

_**The door opened.**_

**_They broke apart and he clutched her shirt. His lips moved to form words, but she silenced him with one more kiss. "I will meet you in the clouds." She moved one hand from his body to summon her strings. The woman in front of her smirked and summoned hers as well. "Don't make me laugh." The woman whispered. The girl choked as if something had taken away her breath. He glanced at the frozen body and gasped. Right where her heart was, through her chest and back, was a single string. From the aim of the string, he could tell she would be put through pain for dying. "I love you." She whispered, clutching his hand. "I love you too Ismene." He responded, his eyes starting to feel heavy. _**

**His eyes snapped open. His chest, gulping down air as fast as it could. Who was that girl? Sure, she looked like Ismene, but somehow her face….it was as if it was Ismene at an older age. Moreover, that boy, somehow Damion knew that it was partly him, but at the same time, it was not. Yeah, he could feel the touches and could see through his eyes, but it felt different. Moreover, just who was that woman? The way she had looked at him and older Ismene, with such hate…. **

**He shook his head to expel such nonsense, but could not help but think about this dream. 'If it had Ismene dying in it, more like nightmare.' He thought, trying to calm his body down. 'And just who was that woman?' He pondered, a wave of confusion crashing through him. Glancing at the rising sun, he stretched and eagerly climbed out of bed. **

**Every Saturday the orphanage would allow them to have a bit of fun as along as no one got hurt, but the only bad thing about the Free Saturday thing was that there was not anything to do in the orphanage. So most people just hung out around the cafeteria and talked about stuff. **

**Since he knew, Ismene especially was not doing anything, 'much like everyone else.' He thought, chuckling, he would meet up with her and "talk". A slight blush spread across his cheeks. 'What are you blushing about? You are only going to see Ismene, the girl who does not flock to you and has long silky black hair with emerald green eyes that twinkles when she laughs. Nothing to worry about.' His conscience reasoned, failing to calm him. He shook his wild mass of black hair and moved towards the showers. Today was going to be very awkward. **

"**Don't you think Damion is so gorgeous?" Rachel McHini gushed with the other girls. They squealed their agreement and crowded around the only clean mirror in the bathroom. They each knew Damion loved girls who worried over their appearances (which was not true), for he thought, they wanted to look good for him. **

'**And what, they've seen more than five guys who weren't obese?' Ismene rolled her eyes and clutched the towel closer to her body as she dried off. The only time she worried over her appearance was if she was… In fact, she never really worried over her appearance. 'What about that time when you snuck into the boys' dorm?' She blushed, remembering the events, but refusing to respond to her conscience's response. Quickly finishing her business in the bathroom, she walked past the group of girls with a dark frown upon her face. **

"**Don't be jealous Ismene. Maybe you can look good some day." Rachel said, smirking to the mirror image of Ismene. Being the bigger person, Ismene walked out of the bathroom and tugged on her shoes. "That's right Ismene, just walk away, like your parents did when they dropped you here." Ismene froze. "What did you just say?" She asked her voice low. Rachel smirked. "Is that a touchy subject for you? Well considering that no one loves you or even likes you, I can see why." Rachel exited the bathroom and stood in front of the livid girl. "I mean look at you. Your hair looks like it has not been combed in days; your clothes are completely out of date and your face… Well, your face is just hideous. No one loves you Ismene, but you know what I will do. I will let you borrow some of my old clothes. They are out of date, but they are just your style." She cackled evilly, thinking that she was being a good role model and setting the right examples for her followers. They glanced at Ismene and shuddered. All of them could see the teenager shaking with anger and did not want to get into a fight; that girl looked like she could hold her own very well.**

**She glared into the ground. Oh, how she wanted to tighten her strings and strangle the girl, bur she knew with this many witnesses, she would be caught. Ismene scowled so hard she saw the girls freeze in terror and turned sharply, deciding to leave before things got ugly. Her fists tightened on their own accord, but nothing happened. 'I guess it is only when I think about it.' She randomly thought, walking into the hall and making her way through the hordes of abandoned children.**

'**Stupid Rachel. Stupid kidnappers. Stupid sickness.' She angrily thought. If it were not for those stupid kidnappers, she would not have gotten sick and been with an evil witch like Rachel. Curling up in a ball, she leaned against the rail around the roof and closed her eyes. 'But then again, I would not have seen Damion.' She blushed a nice shade of red and jerked when the door opened. "I've been looking for you Ismene."**

**His eyes scanned the crowd around him as the cafeteria continued to fill up with teachers, guys and girls who wanted his attention. 'Where is Ismene?' He had checked in the hallways, pondered about going into the girls' room and even walked into the loud and noisy cafeteria where all the girls would be waiting to pounce on him. 'But then again, when you look this good…' His thoughts trailed off as Rachel tugged his arm. "Hey Damion, looking for me?" She asked her voice laced with false sweetness. He rolled his eyes and gently slid his arm away from her. "No not really. I am looking for Ismene. Have you seen her?" Rachel frowned at this. 'What does that nobody have that I don't?' She thought angrily. "I saw her run off, towards the old roof." She sighed out, stomping off. **

**Damion nodded once and raced off. Climbing the stairs, he pushed the door open and smiled when he saw Ismene, huddled up. "I've been looking for you." He whispered, smiling. She jerked, stood and smiled back. He would have walked forward, but his mind had shut down just as Ismene had stood. "W-W-What are you wearing?" He choked out, taking a step forward. She blushed darkly and tugged at the hem of the skirt. "It was the only thing I had." She whispered. She wore a black loose miniskirt, a dark red tank top that had "Ismene" written in elegant cursive and a pair of black ankle boots. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, which swished as she walked, her lips had a bit of gloss on them and her eyelashes, long and dark, made her eyes look like they were outlined. 'She's gorgeous, isn't she?' His conscience whispered in his ear. He blushed and smiled shakily. "You look beautiful." He whispered, clutching her hands in his. She blushed at the compliment and squeezed his hand. **

"**So why are you up here?" He asked, slowly breaking out of his trance. She frowned slightly and released his hands. **

"**Rachel decided to make fun of my past." She whispered, deep hatred roaming through her words. "I decided to come up here before some…things got out of hand." She muttered, a frown marring her beautiful features. 'Yes, her beautiful features.' He finally admitted to himself. 'Get it together. Pay attention; she is dumping on you!' His conscience yelled at him. He snapped out of his stupor and nodded to look like he was listening.**

"**Ismene, don't let Rachel get to you. She is just jealous because you know me, the sexiest of them all." He said this with great dramatics. She gave him a "whatever" look and turned around. "Whatever Damion Chase Kaman. If you want to believe that, I will let you." She chuckled out, leaning against the rail. He laughed with her and wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in her scent. "Smells like fresh rain and pine.' He unconsciously whispered. Ismene giggled on the inside and leaned against his chest. "Damion, what are we going to do?" **

"**Don't know, but I could stay here forever." He muttered into her hair. She sighed contently and closed her eyes. "If you could have one thing what would it be?" She asked, remembering the same question her mother would ask her. **

"**A kiss from you." He responded, breathlessly. Her eyes snapped open to see the sincere black eyes of Damion Chase Kaman. "Damion?" **

**She smiled and nodded her consent. His eyes warmed completely and showed nothing less than happiness. Ismene closed her eyes and waited for the feel of his breath against her lips. Damion looked at the upturned face of the beautiful teen and smiled. Of course, he was nervous, but he knew everything would be fine. Leaning his face down, he tightened his hold and met the warm lips of Ismene Waters. **

**Her mind was running around in circles. She was melting on the inside. Her conscience was doing the happy dance and throwing an 'I was so right and she actually did it' party. A smile worked its way upon her lips as Damion completely erased all thought from her mind.**

**Their lips separated and their eyes opened to see matching blushes on the other's face. "Damion." She whispered, placing a hand upon his cheek. He leaned into the touch and continued to search her eyes. "Ismene I…" He trailed off as said female pushed her lips against his yet again. His face turned another shade of red while his hands roamed her body. **

"**Miss Waters and Mr. Kaman, report to my classroom now!" The two teens broke apart to see Ms. Rumtlic glaring at them, a frown upon her face. Both of them blushed darkly and moved away from each other. This was not good.**

"**You know very well that public display of affection is against the code of conduct at Sunset Orphanage." Her voice was fierce and angry as she regarded the two teens. They stood, side by side, heads down, awaiting their punishments. "You two are lucky I caught you and not some other teacher." She stood and opened the classroom door. "I was young once, so I will let you off with a warning. Dinner is being served, so off you go." Ms. Rumtlic said, smiling at them. They bowed their thank you and rushed out of the classroom. **

"**It is true we got off easy." Damion said as they raced to the cafeteria. "I know. I read the code of conduct. We would have to clean the orphanage." She shuddered at the thought and opened the cafeteria doors. Things had quieted down in the cafeteria, but that did not mean it was silent. Grabbing bits of food, they steered their way towards Damion's friends. Ismene never really bonded with the other girls, finding their talk of Damion annoying. **

"**So where were you two?" One of them asked, smirking. The group of boys chuckled and waited their answer. "We were on the roof." Damion responded, telling them to drop the subject with his voice. They nudged each other, wiggled their eyebrows and smirked. Ismene kept her head down and picked at the "meatloaf surprise". 'It's not really a surprise when they serve it every dinner.' She thought, rolling her eyes. **

"**So goodnight Ismene." He whispered, stopping at the girls' dorm door. Ismene turned around and smiled at him. "Goodnight Damion." She whispered back, kissing his cheek, silently giggling at the thought of them moving so fast so sudden. Sure, normal people would still be getting to know each other, but Ismene could feel the bond between them as if one of her strings had tied them together.**

**A soft sigh escaped her lips.**

**He smirked, grabbed her wrist before she could move, and pressed his lips against hers. From her frozen lips, he could tell she was still not use to the feel of his lips against hers. Drawing back, he laughed on the inside at the look of surprise on her face. "Sweet dreams Ismene." He turned, and began to whistle a tune still foreign to her ears, yet so familiar. **

**Touching her lips, she smiled and entered the dark room. Closing the door as quietly as she could, she stepped over the sleeping bodies and entered the bathroom, turning on the dim light. Peeling off her clothes, she entered the shower stalls and sighed as quietly as she could. Picking up the bar of soap, she rubbed it in her hands until she made a nice lather and began to shower with thoughts of Damion running through her mind. Everything about him, even the way his eyes twinkled when he laughed echoed throughout her love-struck mind. She sighed happily and cut off the water. Clutching a towel to her body, she stepped out of the shower stall and dried off. Tugging on the extra large shirt and short shorts, she moved out of the bathroom into the bedroom and found her place on the floor. The best thing was that there was extra soft carpet in the girls' room for some strange reason, so Ismene didn't mind sleeping on the floor, even preferred it. 'It's better than fighting for a spot in the bed.' She thought, sending a glance at the over-crowded bed. Snuggling down into the worn pillow and tugging the thin blanket upon her skin, she closed her eyes and fell into dreams of her and Damion.**

**He entered his dorm and rolled his eyes at the quiet whoops and whistles coming from his many friends. "So what was she like?"**

"**Did she kiss good?"**

"**What does she taste like?" **

**Ignoring the rising blush on his cheeks, he waved his hand to stop the more embarrassing questions. "I don't kiss and tell."**

"**So you did kiss her?" One of them called out. More whoops and whistles followed this comment. Damion peeled off his shirt and pants and grabbed a pillow. "Ismene is a girl of modesty and dignity. I will not disgrace her by telling you she is in fact a great kisser," He smirked at them and chuckled at the nudging. They asked more and more questions, but Damion refused to answer most of them and only dropping hints to the ones he did not ignore. Yawning, he fell into the bed. "I'm tired and I need my strength to keep up with Ismene." He closed his eyes, smiling at the whoops and whistles. Today had been a good day.**


	5. Dreadful

**Title- Dreadful**

**_Night had just fallen. _**

**_The lights having been turned off, everyone was asleep in his or her own bed (or on the floor). The cafeteria had shut down, meaning anyone hungry would have to wait for morning. _**

_**At least, only at Sunset Orphanage.**_

**_Their quiet footsteps seemed to be loud as they tiptoed to the front entrance. Of course, they were breaking mountains of rules just by being out of bed. Now they were leaving the premises; the audacity._**

"**Are you sure Damion?" Her voice was hushed and quiet. She did not really agree with this in the first place so actually leaving the grounds had her paranoid and worried. **

"**I mean what if they notice we are gone?" She asked, silently commenting that this orphanage would probably barely care about her disappearance compared to Damion's. **

'**Stupid Orphanage.'**

**As if reading her thoughts, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Ismene, don't worry. If they notice both of us gone (he emphasized 'us') I will take full blame and say I dragged you out here." He whispered back, smiling. She huffed, ignored the slight blush coloring her cheeks, (It was a sweet gesture, but the staff would more than likely blame her and give her a harsher punishment beside an outright confession from Damion, the gorgeous orphan) and continued to follow him, nearing the front entrance.**

"**I think I heard something over there." They both froze, gauging to see where the voice came from. **

"**That sounded like Ms. Davidson." Ismene whispered, latching onto his arm. Ms. Davidson was not the one you wanted to catch you doing anything wrong. Damion patted her arm and continued to move.**

"**I'm sure someone is over there." Ms. Davidson's voice rang out. Damion frowned at this. He could not let Ismene get in trouble. Sure, he would get in trouble, but he was used to that. 'So is Ismene.' His conscience reminded him, bring back images of the food fight incident.**

**Images of shadows, sounds of quick but brutal strikes and screams of pain flashed through his mind before then rejoining the real world.**

'**What was that?' He thought, freezing for a second. **

"**Damion, are you okay?" He snapped out of his daze, glanced at Ismene's worried face before smiling again. **

"**I'm fine; just a little spacey." He kissed her cheek as she blushed again before quickly continuing his path to the entrance.**

"**Freeze hoodlums!" **

**A bright light met their eyes and blocked the face of the person holding the flashlight, but they knew who it was. **

**Covering his eyes, he gripped Ismene's hand tight before charging forward. Said girl let out a cry of shock before running to match his pace. It was either that or be dragged.**

**Whoever holding the flashlight cried out in shock and disgust after being pushed out of the way. "Whoever you are, you are in big trouble!" She shrieked as the two teens stormed out of the entrance and into the night.**

"**Damion Chase Kaman, you nearly got us in trouble!" Ismene shouted as they walked through the forest conveniently located next to the orphanage. Damion stayed silent, his mind being elsewhere.**

**Something in that hallway had brought back his memory. It was as if he had seen something from a completely different…time.**

'**Why can't I remember what that….vision? was? It couldn't have been from my past…could it? I mean, yes, I cannot remember what happened before the orphanage, but the sheer fear and pain that washed through me when I saw it…. It couldn't have been my past.' He mused silently, covering his eyes as the lights of Depravities reached the two teens.**

**Ismene glanced at him, worried. It had been at least ten minutes since Damion had said anything to her and she was starting to panic. They were walking through Depravities for goodness sake.**

**Now, yes Depravities was known for its excellent food, clubs, museums, entertainment and hotels, but it was also known for its crime rate. Almost everyday, Ismene heard of murder and if she, Ismene "Waters" orphan, heard this, then there must be more murders heard by the free citizens. **

**Shuddering, she clutched Damion's arm as she received some suggestive glances from some of the older and meaner looking people. Turning a corner, she paused as the bright neon lights entered her vision. **

**Was this where Damion was taking them?**

**A smile moved across her face. Almost instantly, she felt her worry and panic leave her. It front of her was the hottest club in all of Depravities, Wild Nights.**

**Now, yes, that would have been enough to put a smile on her face, but it made her smile even more when she read the sign hanging from the neon lights.**

_**Dark Magic performing tonight**_

**Dark Magic was her favorite band in the world. (Some of the more fortunate girls had the CD with them and she had just happened to "find it".)**

**Nearly jumping in excitement, she looked at Damion with wide eyes, ready to hear that they were going in and rocking out. **

"**Damion, thank you so much! I can't believe we are seeing Dark Magic!" She gushed, forcing him out of his daze. He looked at her with a confused expression before catching on. **

"**We aren't seeing Dark Magic." He sheepishly said, gently tugging her past the club.**

"**What?"**

"**We aren't seeing Dark Magic." He said this much slower as if talking to a 5-year-old.**

"**Then where are we going?" It was no secret that her heart fell when she heard seeing Dark Magic was not going to be the highlight of her night, but she silently promised wherever they were going, she would enjoy the night.**

"**Here we are." He announced the excitement obvious in his voice.**

**She looked up and forced a smile. "An arcade." **

"**Yeah, remember when the orphanage sent us out to work at that mall. Well I saved up that money to get us in here."**

'**He saved up his money for you and you want to be selfish and not enjoy that. You are a bad girl Ismene, very bad.'**_** She told herself, slightly ashamed at not feeling fully ashamed.**_

**She was crying on the inside although her face gave the expression of happiness. She would forget the disappointment and try to enjoy the night. After all, every other girl and some of the teachers would kill to be in her spot.**

"**I thought since the orphanage was such a drag that maybe some fun could lighten the load." He looked into her eyes and sighed. **

'**She doesn't like it.' **

"**You don't like it." He whispered his eyes downcast, the look in her eyes giving her thoughts away.**

"**No, not at all; I'm just surprised." That was not a lie.**

**He brightened at this and grasped her hand. "Ready?"**

"**I hope so."**

**1 hour la**

**And she felt ready to tear her hair out. Now, she knew Damion had meant well and was aiming to please her but seriously, an arcade? **

**She sighed and watched with loving eyes as Damion enjoyed himself on some unknown-to-her game. As long as Damion was enjoying himself, she was happy.**

"**Hey Ms. Lady?" **

**She jumped and looked at the boy who had unannounced plopped himself in the booth that she was occupying. **

"**Um, yes?"**

"**Why are you alone?"**

"**I'm not alone. My boyfriend is just playing a few games."**

"**Why aren't you playing with him?"**

"**I don't like arcades."**

"**Why not?"**

"**It's just too crowded and noisy."**

"**Why?"**

"**Because kids like you run around and annoy me." So, yeah, he was just an innocent boy, but her head was about to explode from the noisy "cling-clang" and "MOMMY, I WANT PIZZA!" and this 24 questions was working on her nerves.**

"**I am not annoying!" He shouted. She glared into his eyes and willed her strings to move him. She was just about to drag him away when----**

"**Dustin!" A voice shouted behind her. She turned about to drag him away also when she felt her heart stop.**

**He was gorgeous….**

**The first thing she noticed was his eyes. They were the perfect shade of brown with the right amount of hidden mysteries in them. **

**From his eyes, she noticed his hair. It was on the long side (for a guy) and had streaks of black, brown and blonde, mixing perfectly.**

**From there, her eyes whirled downward, noting the cherry red lips, perfectly shaped for kissing. **

**Again, her eyes moved, tracing lean muscles through the tight black shirt he wore, continuing downward, following long legs.**

"**----so sorry."**

**Ismene snapped out of her daze and blushed, part of it from shame 'You have Damion! Act like it!' Her conscience yelled and another part from being caught staring.**

"**Um, no problem." She answered, shrugging. **

**He smiled before glaring at what looked to be his little brother. **

"**Dustin I have told you many times to not run off and then bother strangers. There is a reason they are called strangers; it is because they are strange. No offense." He shot her a sorry look. **

"**None taken." She responded, smiling. He smiled back, a hint of desire in that smile.**

"**You just want me to go back to Mom so you can kiss Ms. Lady." Twin blushes appeared on the two teens' faces.**

"**Daniel and Ms. Lady sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage…" He continued to sing the annoying kid song before running off again. **

**A tense silence lied between the two.**

"**Um, sorry about that." He apologized, finding the floor very interesting.**

"**Um, no problem. I used to have a sibling just like that." **

'**Even though, I was the one singing the song.' She sheepishly thought.**

"**So um, what are you doing here?" He asked, settling down in her booth.**

**She glanced at Daniel, a guy who looked like he liked sophisticated girls with beauty and brains, and then glanced at Damion who was still enjoying some weird game. **

"**My, uh, friend arranged for us to come here and I am just waiting for him to finish."**_** She slapped herself for not saying boyfriend, now what would he take her for?**_

**Her conscience was having a field day with her guilt.**

**Another silence consumed them as their conversation ran dry. Ismene's eyes stayed onto the table until she noticed something; something that could change her entire night.**

"**Is that a Dark Magic backstage pass?" She asked, excitedly. He looked down as if shocked it was on him, but nodded.**

"**Yeah. One of my friends scored passes but could not come because of his parents, so gave them to me. He told me to meet some hottie and ask her to come with me." He paused and withdrew a pass from his pocket.**

"**Would you like to go with me?"**

"**Are you serious? You just met me and you are giving me a Dark Magic pass?"**

"**It's the least I can do after dealing with my brother and does that mean you don't want to go?"**

**Waves of exhilaration washed through her as the perfect night was being offered to her in the form of a laminated pass. **

"**That depends; are you calling me a hottie?" She asked, coyly but taking the pass. He smirked slightly before gently pulling her from her seat.**

**Glancing back at Damion, she let a small twinge of guilt mess with her mind before pushing it back. **

'**Damion looked like he'd be occupied for another two hours, so that'd give me just enough time to enjoy most of the concert and make it back.' Mentally nodding at her plan, she followed this "Daniel" to Wild Nights, hoping to have one of her own. **


	6. Finally

**Title- Finally**

**She glanced at her watch and gulped. Two hours had gone by already and she was in desperate need to get back to Damion before he noticed her gone. Quickly jumping off the guy's shoulders, she gave him a grateful look and tried to push her way through the hordes of people.**

'**God, don't these people ever take a bath?' She thought as the smell of BO, cigarettes and marijuana entered her nose. Continuing to push her body through them while at the same time trying to avoid any low class underachiever from brushing up against her, she paused as a hand wrapped around her arm.**

**She turned ready to use her string if needed, but paused when she saw Daniel's face. **

"**Where are you going?" He yelled, obviously trying to get his voice to her ears. **

"**What?" She yelled back. She had seen his lips move, but barely any noise got to her. **

**Rolling his eyes, he, with his hold still on her arm, walked the rest of the way out of the crowd and into the darkness outside.**

"**Where are you going?" He repeated, releasing her arm. She felt a feeling of dread settle in the pit of her stomach. Something about the way the air seemed to tense up made her heart beat a lot faster. Glancing behind Daniel and all around them, she could now tell what was about to happen. **

**As previously, stated, Downtown Depravities was not the place to be at night if you were wildly attractive and standing in the middle of a gang war. **

"**Back to the arcade." She whispered, picking up her pace. She could see the tension between the two gangs rising. **

"**What, why? We haven't even gone backstage yet." He persisted, grabbing her arm, halting her.**

**Her brain kicked into panic mood. With this gang war spiraling higher and higher and the way Daniel was holding her arm, she could tell if the war did not kill her, it would be Daniel.**

"**Let me go." She panicked, struggling to get out of his grip. **

"**No, I paid that brat to annoy you, gave you a backstage pass and I expect some payment." **

**Her heart stopped. Looking into his eyes, she saw the dark lust and crazed animal in them. Struggling, she felt tears run down her cheeks. **

**Why was no one helping her?**

**She glanced around and gasped as she noticed everyone gone. Oh sure, the clubs and whatnot was still open and jumping, but everyone had abandoned the street as if knowing this was going to happen. **

"**Now, we can make this easy or hard; it's your choice." He whispered, leaning forward. She leaned forward also, as if giving in, but as soon as his hold loosened, she landed a well-placed punch and felt him crumble into unconsciousness. **

**She wanted to stop and enjoy her victory, but she could see the guns coming out of the unbearably huge sweatshirts.**

**Glancing at Daniel's body, she sighed as the angel in her forced her to pick him up and hide him in an alleyway. **

**With her heart beating wildly and the panic coming back, she moved out of the alleyway and ran just as the shots started. Covering her ears, she heard and felt the bullets whiz by, not to mention the sounds of bodies falling lifeless.**

**She was surprised at herself for being able to do this as well, for not falling or crumbling right on the spot there in terror, like she had imagined herself doing when in her dreams and placing herself in a similar type of situation- as most girls, the fearful ones at least, do. Now she was shocked, the angel inside her was bringing her to do something she never thought she could. And for one of the first times, she found that she had not backed down.**

**Bursting through the doors of the arcade, she quickly made it inside the building's safe interior and stopped to catch her breath. **

"**Ismene!" She looked up and saw nothing but dark blue. **

**Strong arms wrapped around body, nearly hoisting her up and would not let go until she struggled to get some air.**

**Stepping back, she met the worried gaze of Damion Kaman. **

"**When I couldn't find you anywhere and I heard the shots start, I…" He trailed off as he noticed what clothes she was wearing and the smell surrounding her.**

"**What are you wearing and what is that smell? It smells like cigarettes, alcohol, and BO." He commented, taking her to sit down. Of course, with that awful smell surrounding her, it just had to seep in her clothes. And Daniel did not help at all; he practically smelled as if he had taken a bath in alcohol and marijuana. She mentally cursed her luck. Of course, she just had to forget to put back on her shirt and take off the Dark Magic shirt. **

'**And those stupid people who never take a bath just have to give me away.' **

"**Um, what happened was—"**

**She was interrupted when she heard the shots getting closer and closer as if they were about to enter the arcade. **

**Ismene had time to grab on to Damion just before—**

**Screams of the random civilians echoed throughout the arcade as the last two remaining members in the gang war shot at each other. Quickly pulling Damion down, she motioned for him to follow her through the arcade and to the back entrance. **

**He gave her a panicked stare, but followed her through as quietly as he could, making sure to keep an eyes on the shooters.**

**Ismene leaned forward and opened the backdoor and practically ran through it, slamming it shut after Damion passed through. **

**He grabbed her as soon as possible and encased her into a tight hug. This time she did not struggle.**

"**I knew I shouldn't have brought you out here. I should have just stayed at the orphanage." Damion whispered into her hair. **

**Ismene melted against him but felt the guilt rising in her. She had caused him to worry while all she was doing was being a horrible girlfriend. **

**Drawing away from his arms, she gazed into his eyes, hoping she was doing the right thing. **

"**Damion I have something to tell you. While you were playing at the arcade, I was…" She felt like her throat closed up and her words could not get out and with Damion giving that innocent and confused look, she felt horrible. **

"**With me." Both teens turned and only one gasped at the appearance of the shadowed figure. **

"**D-Daniel? What are you doing?" Ismene asked, her eyes immediately going to knife located in his hand. **

"**All I wanted was some payment, but you had to make things hard." He accented this statement with a quick swipe at her. She dodged and glanced at Damion's panicked and confused face.**

**Daniel swung again, creating a long line of blood on her right arm. She clutched it tight, wincing as bolts of pain washed through her.**

**He swiped once more, but this time Ismene barley dodged and ended up on her back. Daniel smirked darkly, the knife glistening slightly in her blood. **

"**Time to die." He raised the knife above his head, chuckling a bit and swung down. Ismene closed her eyes, fully expecting burning pain to blind her, but opened her eyes only to see something horrible.**

"**DAMION!" **

**It happened in slow motion. **

**His body, being stabbed in the back, fell to the ground, the life draining out of it too fast for her to handle. **

'**A little ironic.' Her conscious threw in, making her guilt push forward.**

**Horror, displayed on her face and swimming in her veins, consumed her mind before horror quickly turned into anger. **

**Her green eyes flashed, turning into a dull jade. **

"**How dare you!" The wind picked up around her, swirling the garbage around her in small tornados. Daniel backed up, looking into her eyes, seeing the fury and hate deep within them. **

"**L-Listen, I' m sorry, don't kill me."**

**She tensed at this. "You killed him and now you beg for mercy. Let me tell you something." Her strings tightened around him, drawing him close to her. His eyes widened as he felt the pull of her strings, panicking.**

**He could see the death in her eyes and shivered as a smirk moved on her face. **

"**I show no mercy." His eyes widened once more before letting out a terrified scream. She chuckled darkly.**

**Daniel's body lay still, barley bleeding from the deep, tight string marks on his chest. She had killed, yes and the shock was still numbing her emotions, but as she looked at Damion's body and then Daniel's body, she could not help but feel responsible for the killing that took place.**

"**I'm so sorry Damion. Please forgive me." She kneeled by his cold body, whispering words of love and begging for forgiveness.**

"**You want to save him?" She turned sharply, ready to fight, but froze when she herself felt strings wrap around her body.**

**Looking up, she gazed at the two forms that stepped forward.**

**One had a sharp face with eyes large and golden, a nose that curved just right, lips pale and thin, but had an odd reddish tint to them. He had longish silver hair that was currently tied in a ponytail and a thin muscular body hidden under layers of clothes. **

**The other looked just like him, except her short hair was a soft golden, looking like creamy rich honey, straight out of the combs from a beehive while her eyes were steel silver, cold, hard, reflecting Ismene's broken form**

"**Well?"**

**She snapped from her daze and struggled to free herself. **

"**Don bother struggling." The female spoke. "My strings are a lot stronger than yours." She commented, tightening them. Ismene cried out, the strings squeezing the still fresh cut on her arm. The male glared at the female and stepped forward.**

"**Ismene Diana Masen, please trust us."**

**She froze. Her old name, now foreign to her own ears, had not been said in a very long time. **

"**How do you know about that? Who are you? Why is this happening?"**

"**Some many questions." He whispered, smiling just slightly. He stepped to her, and cupped her cheek. "Damion is in need of our help; let us take him?" **

"**You're asking me?" **

**He nodded and so did she. "Just make sure that he knows I love him." She whispered the strings around her loosening. He smiled and walked over to the still body. As careful as he could, he lifted the body and walked towards his companion. **

"**Thank you Ismene." She opened her mouth to say something, but froze when she saw them heading straight for the side of a building. They both turned once more, before stepping into the shadows and disappearing. **

**Yes, she was very confused, but at least Damion would be all right or at least she hoped.**

**Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Daniel's body, felt slightly guilty and turned away. Now, she would have to leave. She could not possibly live in a town where she had seen the darker sides of life. Shaking her head, shock still numbing her senses and clouding the truth of the situation, she stepped out into the sidewalk and headed for the nearest bus station.**

**Having no idea where she was going to go, she sat down on the nearest bench, wincing as some wooden pieces stuck her and hoping nothing else would happen that would require her to use her strings. **

**Her eyes swung to the homeless man gazing at her.**

**Shivering, not just from the cold but from fear, she took a deep breath to calm herself only to end in a fit of coughing from the obvious cigarette smoke coming from a bar only a couple of feet away.**

'**On second thought, I am happy I'm leaving this horrible city.' Even as she thought this, a piece of her would miss this place. She had so many memories here and that would eventually be washed away by age and darker experiences. **

**Pushing these thoughts back, she turned her body to lay on the entire bench again wincing as the wooden piece stabbed her again. **


	7. Wrongly

Title- Wrongly

Ismene Diana Mason had died

Ismene Waters had disappeared from existence

Now Ismene Taylor worked in a bookstore, trying to deny and forget her past, needing the loud and undeniably continuous noise to clear her mind.

They both stood in the middle of the room, watching from either sides of the portal, burning a hole in their floor. One of them, tired of having to stare at the girl, watched her company pace back and forth, away and then close to the portal, running his hand through his hair, obviously panicked.

The other one shook his head, watching the poor girl rush around, helping the rude mortals that purposely agitated her. He hated this job. THEY had wanted the two siblings to watch Ismene and make sure she stayed on track, but how he ached to do something more. Ever since that day in the alley, he had wanted to find her and breathe in her scent, taking in the smell of cinnamon-sweet apples.

Glancing once more at the image, he felt the animal inside of him call out for her; it scratching against the layers of his control, digging deeper and deeper until…

"We should help her." He spoke up, voice coated in desperation, but his fingers gently stroking the moving image of her.

"Brother! You know they would be very angry if we were to interfere. They told us to just do what they said, nothing more and nothing less." She responded, gripping his wrist. He frowned darkly before jerking his wrist away.

"I know that, but look at her. She needs our help. I don't care what they say."

"Why do you care so much about a pitiful mortal? You never did before!"

"Don't call her that!" He shouted, his anger heard easily in his voice. She gave him a hard look as if about to argue, but stayed quiet.

"I'm sorry, but there is something about her I just can't leave alone. It's like everything she does makes me want to…"

He trailed off as another person joined them. "You are watching her, making sure she stays on track?" He asked, sending a look at the girl. They nodded silently, keeping their faces blank.

"Good, we will need your services soon; she must stay within our limits." With that, the newcomer exited the room, leaving the remaining two alone.

"At least I will be able to help her." He whispered, continuing to gaze at her. His companion sighed, rolled her eyes and turned away, heading for the door.

"My dear brother, if you do not get your act together, you will find yourself in deep trouble." She also left, closing the door behind her. He continued to watch her before turning away. His sister was right; he was going to find himself in deep trouble for what he was about to do.

Night finally settled on the boring and dreary city she called home. Wiping down the counters, she waved goodbye to her boss and went back to work. Even after starting a new life with a new name, her old memories continued to haunt her.

Oh, how she hated Damion's dying face. The way he looked her as his body fell to the ground. She shivered from the memory, all too fresh in her mind.

A small smile forced its way onto her lips. The love between them had been so passionate and understanding. It was as if everything Ismene had lacked and had wanted had been formed into the body of a single boy who, despite having dozens of other girls hanging off of him, picked her out of the crowd, made her forget the horrible days in her past and loved her with everything he had.

But then again, why did he pick her? She was not beautiful, not by along shot. Now yeah she was smart, but there were plenty of other orphans that would have been a lot smarter than her. Why would Damion pick a plain Jane like her?

Maybe it was her personality. She was the only one who was actually real and not trying to pretend to be something she was not. Besides, she vaguely remembered Damion commenting many times about her, whether to her face or to his friends. Now, she would never know.

A grimace overthrew the smile on her face.

If she just had not left the arcade, everything would have been fine. Shaking her head to rid her of those thoughts, she snapped back into reality when she heard the small bell jingle.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're closed." She muttered, placing the chairs on the table. She hated it here. At least back in the orphanage, she did not have to work so hard and at least Depravities had some fun.

Serpia had unbearably little crime,

'Not that I say I want crime, but come on. If there is zero crime, then there isn't any fun in Serpia.'

Zero clubs, zero amusement parks, zero malls (except for that one that sells nothing but boring stuff) and everyone knew everyone. So if you ticked off one person, you ticked off the entire city.

"You hate it here too?"

She was rudely jerked from her thoughts when she heard the voice on the man. He was still there? Hadn't she told him that they were closed? Guess she would have to do it the hard way.

"Excuse me sir, but I believe I said that we are closed." A bit more force in her voice.

"And I believe I asked a question. So I won't leave until I get an answer." He whispered, sitting in one of the chairs still on the floor. She huffed and opened her mouth to argue but nothing came out. It was as if her words had been ripped from her throat, only to leave the answer to his question.

"Yes, I do hate it here." She choked out, wrapping her hand around her throat. He smirked slightly and released the invisible hold on her.

She sighed a breath of relief before glancing at him. "Are you happy sir? Can you please leave?"

The-maybe-20-year-old man shook his head and put his feet up on the table she had just cleaned. "I was wondering why you work here? You are amazingly beautiful and look to be incredibly smart."

A flurry of unwanted images flashed into her mind yet again; Daniel had said the same thing to her as he had taken her to Wild Nights and from there, the near rape, the gang war, the moment in the alley… She pushed the memories away and focused on the man standing in the store.

Her face went from stricken to fearful. Was he going to be another Daniel? She glanced around and unfortunately noticed many tools that he could use to bound, threaten and even gag her with. Her heart doubled in speed, terror shot through her, and her mind whirled. Eyes, wide with panic, glanced outside and mentally cried when she saw barely anyone on the sidewalks. She had to get this guy out of the store fast before she fainted from fright.

"T-Thank you sir, but we are still closed." She stated, trying to ignore the shake in her voice.

"Could you at least make me one coffee?" He looked deeply into her eyes, as if trying to convince her to listen to him. She huffed and walked over to the coffee machine.

"Do you want any cream or sugar?"

"I drink it black." She raised an eyebrow at this, but quickly made him the beverage and held out her palm for the money.

"You expect me to pay you?" He asked, taking a sip of the coffee. She frowned darkly before reaching for the coffee. He held the drink out of her reach, loving her expression and the way her lips curled a bit when she was angry.

"Sir, if you do not leave this establishment, I will be forced to call the—"

It seemed she had cleaned the floor a bit too well and stepped into a still wet spot. A cry of shock escaped her lips as she latched onto his shirt, pulling him down with her. He smirked as his back met the floor.

Lifting herself up, she gazed at the man below her. As their eyes met, they both could not help but feel the spark between them, not romantic, but something deeper, darker.

His hand reached up and pressed it against her cheek, a simple gesture of comfort.

"Ismene, why are you trying to forget what happened."

This shocked her out of her daze. "What did you say?" His eyes widened. He had released too much.

"I have to go." He whispered, throwing her off him. She landed on her side, but quickly sat up and reached for him, but he had disappeared out of the door.

A dark frown settled on her lips. She _**did not**_ want anyone finding out about her recent past or even her before death past. Her fists tightened, digging deep imprints into her hand. Erasing her past would be harder than she thought

Her eyes opened, sad and lifeless. It was becoming more and more of a routine. The nightmares would not stop; they just kept coming. Tears, making their way down her cheeks, followed old paths of the tears that fell yesterday and the day before that and the day before that….

She closed her eyes tight, hoping that maybe the horrifying visions would disappear into the very back and very dark part of her mind, but they did not.

She could still see the life fading from Damion's eyes, his body still and cold, his face, oblivious to what really happened, twisted into an everlasting expression of love or maybe even Daniel's voice begging for his life just seconds before she ripped it from him.

She could not even remember how she had done such a thing. It had felt like an animal breaking lose or even her mind breaking down, letting her emotions run free, but the way she had killed, she could not remember.

She moved out of bed and made her way through her tiny and cramped apartment, heading towards the bathroom.

With the money she had collected when working at the mall back in Depravities, she had been able to find a small apartment, buy an okay bike and get her necessities.

However, eventually the fund ran dry and she had to get a job. Luckily, _Joe's Bookstore_ had been hiring and she quickly pounced on the opportunity. They were very reluctant to let her work for them, but finally okayed her.

Everything seemed to be heading in the right direction. She was doing very well at work and she had heard rumors that she was getting a promotion. She had made some friends, her apartment building tenants were very friendly, inviting her over for dinner and helping her out and even better, she had fooled everyone into thinking she had been abandoned by her mother and had not killed two people, on purpose and on accident.

'Even with all of that,' she thought, wrapping her hands around the small white bottle, 'I need these to get through the day.' Opening the container, she dumped out two small blue pills, closed it again and grabbed her cup.

More tears, but not about Damion, but about herself. The young and happy Ismene would not have killed two people. The young and happy Ismene would not be crying herself to asleep every night. The young and happy Ismene would not need anti-depressants.

Filling the cup with water, she downed the pills before putting on a false smile.

"Good Morning Ismene Taylor." She happily greeted to her reflection. Her pale skin, turned from its slight tannish shade, hung on her body, her lovely green eyes were dark with hidden secrets and unwanted memories and her nicely formed body had disappeared with her happiness, leaving only a thin husk of what it used to be. Her reflection's lips twisted and sneered at her as if she was some false person trying to hide and she could just not take it. The thought of her being someone she was not, the thought of masking her true self hurt too much.

Moving away from the angry image of herself, she turned on the shower and began her day.

His heart broke for her. He had seen everything and wanted so bad to give her a hug, anything that would make that shadow of gloom and self-hatred go away. He wanted so bad to save her.

"We can't do anything right now." His sister whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist. He embraced her slightly but focused on the replay of Ismene's waking up process.

"I know, but look at her and then look at her old self. It's like she is one body but two different people." He sighed deeply before looking at his shorter sibling.

"When is our next encounter?"

"Tomorrow and this time don't let your hormones mess this up like when we took Damion." She said, a tone entering her voice. He blushed at this, but nodded.

"What about Damion? How is he? You know he is the only thing that will convince her to come with us."

"He is….doing better. He is still in some sort of hibernating state, but now we can sense his….for lack of better words…life coming back."

He accepted this answer and continued to look at her weary form. How badly he wanted to save her.

Problem was, he did not know why.

"Welcome to Joe's. May I take your order?" She asked, a cheery tone coating the depression scratching at the surface.

"I would like a double while my love here would like a strawberry and crème flavored coffee." She wrote down the orders and moved away to fill them. It burned to see those two happy teens enjoying each other's company and making little gestures of affection.

She would brush her hand against his and he would gently take it and place a tender kiss against it. She would blush and giggle and he would join in own the laughter as if they had some inside joke.

"Like me and Damion." She unintentionally whispered out aloud. Quickly making the desired beverages, her feet unconsciously guided their way to the couple, let her hands place the drinks on the table and then moved away as a good server would.

However, on the inside, she was cursing their happiness, letting her rage with herself, Daniel, that night and the ache of being forgotten in that stupid warehouse find an outlet.

A sigh was heaved and she motioned to her boss that she was taking a break. He nodded and went to take over her duties. Unwrapping her apron, she let done her bun and went through the back exit.

Fresh air would do her good.

He watched her, making sure she stayed on track while making sure nothing bad happened to her. It was as if some spell had been placed on him. Every…for lack of better words….waking moment he had, he would watch her, during her working hours, during her nights alone, during her human sleeping, and even during her reading time.

Nevertheless, his favorite part was when she was sleep. Her face lost the hardness of growing up too fast, her body finally relaxed and he could see the innocence and peace radiating off her features. Of course, he hated when the nightmares started, she would cry, scream, struggle, and her face would twist in an expression of unbearable agony; it made him feel helpless and weak.

"Ismene, what are you doing to me?" He asked to no one in particular. His fingers skimmed over the surface of the portal, making the image ripple.

He froze.

What was that?

He looked closer and gasped. Someone was about to attack her. In the dark recesses of the alley she had walked into, some strange person, with a very sharp blade was creeping upon her oblivious form. He panicked.

If she died she would get off track and they had said to interfere if she was about to get off track. He pressed his hand against the image and whispered words only he and his sister knew.

The surface rippled faster and faster, before finally glowing a dark purple. He took a deep breath and plunged into the mirror holding the portal.

Ismene sighed, closing her eyes, wishing away the dark thoughts entering her mind.

"Give me your money." She jumped when she heard the gruff voice behind her. If she had had enough time to turn around, she would have immediately used her strings, but he had already pressed the glass piece to her neck.

"I don't usually like to kill my prey, but I will if I have to." Her nose wrinkled at the smell of garbage, onions and gingivitis.

"Leave her alone." Someone else bellowed behind them. He turned her around to face the person from last night.

"You!" She exclaimed. He rather smiled at her, giving her hope that he could break her out of this situation.

"Listen, bud, I found this hot piece of white trash and I ain't about to let it go." The potential killer said, jerking her for good measure.

"White trash?!" She yelled, disgust and offence changing her tone. The guy growled darkly at her, warning, no daring her to say something else. She promptly shut up.

Now, any smart person, with weird invisible strings, would have quickly put a stop to this situation. But lately, her strings….they had been disobeying her, breaking random objects, attacking her at weird times, even holding people still and she did not want to risk dying just because of her string acting up unless she knew for sure that this random guy couldn't save her.

"I said let her go." He demanded once more, taking a frightening step forward. He backed away, still holding her and stuttered out another demand.

"S-Stay a-away or I-I w-will k-k-kill h-her." This made the guy in front of them snap because the next thing Ismene knew was the guy holding her dropped to the ground, unconscious, but unfortunately, the blade, even though missing her neck and vital arteries and veins, slid across her collarbone, creating a long strip of cut skin and a pooling are of blood.

She hissed as it began to burn, but froze when she looked at her savior and saw a crazed animal about to break loose, eyes firmly planted on her collarbone and the blood trailing out of it.


	8. Quickly

Title- Quickly

She had just enough time to gasp before a blur of movement entered her vision, a hand wrapping its way around her neck.

Confused, she struggled to break away, as the grip only tightened, forcing her to stand still, and horror moving through her in waves. The red opticals were glaring intensely into her own forest-green ones.

He had just saved her from a potential killer and now he was practically choking her? Was she just a killer magnet or something?

"S-Stop." She shakily demanded, fearing the animal that had been unleashed on her. His lips curled back to reveal sickly too-dark-for-grass-green glowing fangs, dripping some kind of thick liquid that unfortunately made his frightening stance more menacing than what she thought possible.

She watched, eyes wide and heart pounding, as he lowered his head and took a deep breath right next to her bleeding neck.

"Better than I could ever imagine." He whispered, thick, husky and full of dark desire. She jerked away in pure instinct as a pink tongue pressed against the drying blood. Even though his hand, she could feel the shudder that coursed through him.

"I will thoroughly enjoy this." He opened his mouth, fully intending to feast.

"Brother! Stop!" Ismene looked over his head and saw a seemingly familiar woman bounding towards them. 'He's getting closer to my neck.' Ismene panicked. Quickly thinking, she brought her knee up and tore away from him, just as he fell to the ground. The woman latched onto her "brother" and dragged him back while he struggled to reach Ismene once again.

"I'm sorry." Was the last thing she heard from the woman before both of them disappeared. Ismene sucked in gulps of air and as fast as possible before heading back towards the entrance to the store. She knew to get inside before anything else happened.

"Both of you are at fault!"

The siblings, heads down, stood in front of their….clients and awaited their punishment.

"And you, Sir Deimos, you are the greatest at fault. You snuck out and talked to her, almost kicking her off-track. Then you rescue her from something she could have handled and almost turn her into one of us. She needs to stay human for certain reasons! You are off the tracking and from now on, you will be watched and guarded until we have her on our side. Is that understood?"

Deimos knew better than to argue with them; they could kill him…for good this time. He nodded, bowed deeply and left the room, knowing they would want to talk to his sister in private.

She watched him leave, sullen and defeated before turning to them, face blank.

"Now, Lady Eunomia, you were correct in taking your brother away from Ismene before he could kill her, but you should not have said anything to Ismene. Now, she realizes there are two of you and now remembers you. And after Deimos stunt, she probably remembers even more. And Lily had done such a good job in erasing part of her memory." He muttered the last part to himself.

After a moment of silence, he stood.

"We cannot afford to lose anymore time. You are to retrieve her and do it as quickly as you can and as quietly. Lily will erase the memories of anyone who has had contact with her. Just be sure to bring her here unconscious, so we have time to plan our next move. You are dismissed."

She accepted her task with a bow and left the room quickly.

"This is bad." The male beside him whispered, glancing at his other two companions.

"How are we going to get her on our side? Does she even remember Edward? Or even her parents for that matter?

Another stood from his seat and silently nodded, refusing to say anything.

"Marcus had said many times that she remembers everyone, but it is fading too fast. We will have to speed things up or we will risk losing her trust forever." He answered for him. They nodded their agreement and hoped their plan had not failed.

Silence echoed throughout the small apartment, but it was not an easy silence. Oh no, not by a long shot.

She looked up at her attacker, anger and defiance radiating off her bound form. She struggled to sit up, only to be pushed down again by a firm, but careful hand.

"Please, I didn't want to do this, but Deimos is stupid and rash." Her attacker whispered, a bit of fear in her eyes. If she did this wrong, they would have her head.

She moved throughout the apartment, putting clothes and other random belongings into multiple suitcases.

"You will be staying away from this place for a very long time, so we are moving you out."

"Mhhh?"

"Yes we." She whispered, jerking her head at the bathroom. Ismene rolled over only to look into pale, pale eyes.

The newcomer looked to be a little girl dressed in all white, but somehow her features were blurred as if she was a ghost.

"I have completed the process." Her voice robotic and emotionless. Her attacker nodded and returned to her work. The girl looked at Ismene and raised an eyebrow.

"Is this her?"

"Yes, isn't she something?"

"They have great taste." She answered before walking towards the front door. She turned once more, gazed into Ismene's eyes, somewhat smiled and left the building.

"Mhhhh!"

"I can't let you go, not until they tell me to."

"Mhhh?"

"They are…you probably won't know who they are but they go by the Volturi, the most powerful vampire clan."

Ismene's eyebrows shot up into her hair at the word "vampire". She thought that was just in movies and books, but it real life.

Ha.

Great. Now, not only was she being kidnapped, but also her captors were nut jobs.

'This is just my day.'

"Finally, you are all-packed."

"Mhhh?"

"It doesn't matter. I am not important."

"Mhhh?" She mumbled, repeating her question.

"It's Eunomia."

Her captor walked over to her form and threw her over her shoulder as if she were nothing more than a mere feather.

'Isn't this familiar?' She sarcastically thought, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, before I forget." Ismene gasped behind the gag, her mind screaming her to struggle, but quickly went blank. Before darkness engulfed her, she saw a single image, but could not really identify it.

In some weird way, she randomly thought the person in that image looked just like her.

Eunomia felt the warm body go slack and quickly released her strings from around her neck. Securing the body to her, she picked up the suitcases and headed towards the front door.

The girl was waiting for her.

"Are you ready Lily?" She asked, giving the girl a nervous smile. She returned this with a blank stare and a wave of her hand.

A dark swirling portal opened on the side of Ismene's building, too long to see the end of it. The girl stepped in first, simply walking on the swirling colors while Eunomia somewhat struggled to walk with a human body hanging on her, and multiple suitcases.

'If only humans weren't so defiant, I would come back for her later, but no…' Her mental rant continued as the two females walked towards their destination.

He sighed deeply, pacing the room, ignoring the strange looks the guards were sending him. He hated not being able to at least see her.

Now he knew it was unbearably dangerous to be around her, considering that she was his singer.

Damn.

The sweet scent of her blood still lingered in his nose and, unfortunately, his sister had waited long enough to restrain him for him to taste that sweet, oh so very sweet blood of hers.

It had the sugary taste of humanity that could never be replaced by anything, but held the tangy and rich flavor of Ismene that was unique to only her. Without even doing anything she could control, she had put him under a spell, controlling everything about him, placing him in a world of unbearable pleasure, ecstasy and bliss. It had been so overpowering, so delicious, so inviting….

His fist tightened in desperation; he was going to go crazy.

"Calm down Deimos." He turned sharply at the sound of his sister's voice.

"Where have you been?" He asked, gazing at her slightly rumpled clothes. She opened her mouth to respond, but glanced at the guards.

"Um, guys, could you leave please? I have it from here." They glanced at one another, shrugged then quickly left. They were tired of watching Deimos pace anyway.

"I was getting Ismene." She responded when it was all clear. He stepped to her, bent down and took a deep breath. A shudder ran through his body before he had a chance to stop it.

"You carried her." He whimpered out, becoming lost and dizzy in the irresistible scent.

She let him take a few more whiffs before pushing him away. "Yeah, I did and I brought something of hers since I knew something like this would happen."

He grabbed the blue cloth from the air and held to his nose. A moan of wondrous satisfaction echoed throughout the room.

"It's her pillowcase. I decided to get you something she used everyday."

He growled a 'thank you' before letting out more rumbles of pleasure. Her scent, the smell, so desirable.

He let out a roar of displeasure when the blue object was ripped from his hands.

"Pay attention Deimos. Now, they have given us another chance; don't blow it by following your hormones." She rolled her eyes and threw the object back at him.

There was no way she could talk to him while he was in that state. Sighing, she left the room, summoned back the guards and went to entertain herself.


	9. Deliberately

Title- Deliberately

She was sleeping.

Deimos gazed at the unconscious form and mentally rumbled in pleasure. She looked so angelic in her sleep, letting her guard down and showing the world her more innocent nature. He had seen the turmoil she had gone through and was surprised that a trace of that innocence was left.

He glanced at his sister's "sleeping" form and silently thanked her for giving him the privacy. He knew she could hear and smell everything he was doing, but she could not help it. With becoming what they were, sleep had been yanked away from them. Shaking his head to rid himself of such depressing thoughts, he gently sat next to Ismene, knowing his movements would not wake her. Humans were strange that way. They let their guard down too easily, as if they wanted to be hurt, too ready to accept anyone into their life without knowing everything about them.

Even those who had been hurt before, who had been told they were putting up a false front had latched onto the first caring thought thrown their way.

And as much as he wanted to deny Ismene's humanity, he could not and would have to make sure she did not get hurt in any way even if that meant keeping his distance away from her.

His fist tightened at that thought.

He was too dangerous for her. Not only did his "job" give him many new enemies, most of them vampire and that meant if his enemies caught whiff of his **singer** and his relationship, more kidnapping, split blood and maybe even death of Ismene.

Moreover, if that did not convince him, the simple smell wafting to his nose did. What if she fell or something and just happened to get a cut? Would he be able to resist? Of course not!

With just a simple slash of a badly sharpened knife, her blood had sent him into a world of blood lust. And with humans being so breakable, how would he cope if something like that happened again?

On the other hand, what if something even worse happened? With already getting a taste of the delightful treat he was determined to never get, the blood lust would be even more powerful.

It was like having just a sip of water after being in a desert for so long, knowing there were endless amounts of the liquid right in front you, but you could not have it. That single of drop of water would force you into a state of desperation, for you would remember the way the liquid slid down your throat, scratching at the burning itch so deep inside of you. It would soothe it, yes, but then the itch would return ten fold, desiring more.

"Deimos!"

He snapped out of his thoughts as his sister released her warning tone, telling him she had smelled the desperation on him. He growled a sorry, but then focused on Ismene.

He took a deep breath. The scent was still as strong as ever and it was still sending him unbearable amounts of pleasure.

"Ismene, I'm sorry. If it hadn't been for my stupidity, I could actually be able to…" He trailed off as his eyes moved to the bright pink lips. His mind was whispering for him to just place one kiss, just one. However, his conscious was screaming for him to just get up and walk away. Already her scent was affecting him, but to be even closer to the delectable smell where it would just in case him would be dangerous and oh so sweet.

Glancing at his sister, he shifted his position, hovering just over her body. This way, he could get perfect lip contact. If he could blush, he would have as he leaned his face down, lips just centimeters from touching.

'This is WRONG! Stop this right now! You cannot just kiss someone when they are asleep and do not know you! Deimos, stop this right now! Do not make me do something we will both regret!" His conscious shouted, denying him the sweet rapture that came with being so close to your singer.

Ignoring the pestering thoughts, his body acted upon its feeling, so close to finally feeling Ismene. He gulped and quickly closed the distance between them.

He swore he saw fireworks.

Her lips, they were soft, yielding and most importantly warm. Having been around nothing but cold beings and not able to go outside when it was sunny, he relished in the sensation of warmth. It had been so long since he had felt this good.

As much as he wanted to stay in that position for eternity, he knew the Volturi would request his sister's presence soon and she would have to bring along Ismene. Sighing deeply, he pressed down just a bit, trying to memorize the sensation before pulling away. He hated this, being so close to the thing he wanted the most, his singer, but being forced to stay away from her.

A growl tore through the room, it sounding excessively close to a roar.

"Deimos, are you ready to go?"

He nodded and moved from around Ismene, carefully tucking her back in and removing away trace of him being on the bed. His eyes darted back to the sleeping form before exiting the room, his mind reeling with dark thoughts.

It was dark.

She looked outside her window, without really seeing anything. She had been thinking for a few hours now.

Not really focusing on one subject, just noticing random thoughts. Of course, she was freaking out about being kidnapped and taken to a foreign place, but there was no way to escape. The door was unbearably heavy, causing her to quickly give that up and the window had been bolted shut on the outside, which gave her the impression this kidnapping thing had been done before if her kidnappers had an already prepared room.

However, that was not nagging at her. She had been in hostage situations before so no biggie. Nevertheless, she could feel the question of what was happening to her rising inside her body.

Everything, the sickness, the powers, the killing, the kidnapping, felt like it had been planned?

If that was a silly thought, she did not know what was.

However, once she stopped and thought about it, she began to realize more and more the hints and clues she had missed.

Why had those two people appear out of nowhere and take away Damion?

Why had she met that strange man in the bookstore?

Why had he rushed out after he had said her name?

Why had she been rescued from that robber guy in that alley, not once but twice?

So many questions, not enough answers.

'I am going to find out some answers, whether it kills me or not." She just finished that thought when her door swung open. Turning sharply, she dashed towards the door, fully intending the will the person out of her way.

Her arm reached out, ready to tighten her strings when she felt… nothing. Not a single thing moved, no burst of energy flew through her like normal, nothing happened!

"What?" She muttered, freezing.

"You will find your "powers" gone." Ismene looked up and saw Eunomia standing in the doorway.

"What? How do you know about my powers?"

"Because they're really mine." She whispered, snapping her fingers. Ismene gasped out as her arms moved together, as if some invisible force had forced her limbs closer to her body.

"But, what about all those times I had used strings?"

"I used them for you. That was why they disobeyed you, refusing to follow your command." Ismene gasped again as she was forcibly dragged towards the strange female.

"Now, the Volturi demand your presence." Eunomia's tone dark, deadly.

They watched, mildly amused as their "prisoner" for lack of better words, tried to resist Eunomia's strings, which looked completely futile.

"Ismene Diana Mason, please calm down." He said, smiling slightly. She turned wild, fearful and ready to kill eyes on him, them narrowing in suspicion.

"How do you know that name?"

"That name? Not your name?"

She turned her head away. "She died a long time ago."

He raised an eyebrow at this and stepped forward. "Very well. At least let me introduce myself. I am Aro, the one to my left is Carius and the other is Marcus." He said this with such flow, Ismene could not help but let herself relax.

"Um, nice to meet you?"

Aro smiled again, but approached her still "tied" form. He reached a hand up, intent on touching her cheek, but stopped in mid reach. Something was holding him back, something huge, powerful.

It pushed him again as if refusing his touch. His eyes moved to the waiting female before him and mentally nodded. It had finally been released.

"You may not know this, my dear Ismene, but you are very special." He said, backing up. She raised an eyebrow at this. Aro nodded to Eunomia, who released Ismene and made her way out of the room; her job was done.

"Would you like a seat?" He asked, motioning to a chair. She was still suspicious but made her way to sit down.

"As I said before, you are a very special girl. You possess powers even the most powerful vampire doesn't have." He said, raising an eyebrow at Ismene's amused chuckle.

"Are you for real? Vampires? You need serious medical help." She said, giggling.

"You really doubt our honesty? Is there something we must do to prove to you we are real?"

"No, please go on." She laughed out, trying to stop.

"Very well. Ever since You were a young girl, about to be kidnapped, we have watched over you, protecting you, making sure you stayed preserved before we were to awake you."

"Wait a minute. Ever since I was a young girl? Preserved?"

"We have another vampire who can go back in time. We used his powers to travel back and leave our own behind. They were the two kidnappers."

Ismene sat there numb. If what they were telling her was true, then everything that had happened to her. EVERYTHING was their fault.

"We also have another vampire who can give pain. That was the sickness and as you fell asleep we moved your body into a chamber tank, invading your dreams to make sure you believed the story we wove for you."

Her mind was whirling with information, thoughts, and realizations before going numb.

"Eunomia used her powers to keep you safe, but also used them to make you believe you were safe; we didn't need you to be paranoid. Damion and Daniel, we wove their stories to meet you; they were innocent bystanders but we had to use someone."

"Damion and Daniel?" She muttered, still not comprehending what was happening and being told to her.

"We knew that you had a hidden power inside of you, but it seemed we went overboard with our quest to find it and made you hide it under turmoil, depression, and pain. After Deimos's idiotic move, we had to bring you here, to give you that last shove that would bring that power out and I can already sense it pushing its way to the surface." Aro finished, gazing worriedly at Ismene's face.

She had gone pale, her eyes were blank, and her tense posture had relaxed to a limp, languid form. It was as if she was not in her body.

"Ismene?"

His answer was a body falling out of the chair and onto the floor.

"It seemed that this information was to be spread over the course of time." Carius said, adding the 'I told you so' tone to his voice. Aro frowned a bit before summoning in Eunomia.

"Take her to the chamber tank; give her the information again, but this time slower. We will need to make sure she understands before we ship her off to Forks, Washington."


	10. Mysteriously

Title Mysteriously

_Her eyes opened, searching for something, a feeling moving through her whole body. It was as if she did not really know what she was looking for, but on a subconscious level, her mind already knew what it wanted. Wherever she was, little light penetrated, leaving her in complete darkness. _

"_You're special."_

_She turned around sharply, trying to pinpoint the unseen voice._

"_Is someone out there?"_

"_You are the one who will set things right." A light and gentle voice twittered._

"_Set what right? What are you talking about?" She looked this way and that, trying to understand. _

"_You understand so little, but it will become clear. You have been chosen to settle it all. Be strong, for you will need it." It continued as if Ismene had not interrupted it, having the same calm and angelic tone it held. _

_Ismene felt something touch her arm, cold and strong. Immediately following, there was another thing that reached her arm, this one warm and fuzzy. She guessed they were hands by the way she felt five fingers stroke her arm. _

_They two hand paused sharply, before tightening, each tugging her away from the other. She felt her arms lock up, but continue to stretch farther and farther._

"_Stop! You are ripping me apart!" She shouted, struggling to pull away from both of them. Tears began to run down her cheeks, dropping into the deep darkness._

"_Be strong, for you will need it." The voice whispered before fading away. She screamed pain as the grips tightened and the pulling became all the more intense._

She remembered.

That dream she had while in that chamber was still all too clear to her. The feeling of ice-cold fingers tugging her away from the warm, furry ones still touching her skin. The familiar voice whispering cryptic words into her ear was still ringing in her ears.

Opening her eyes, she sat up, body aching and mind wondering what happened to her.

"I see your awake, Ms. Monta."

She turned her body, wincing in pain to face a smiling female, a clipboard in her hands.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" A frown settled on her lips.

Remember? Remember what? Closing her eyes, she thought back, back to where the most recent events had taken place.

Aro had introduced to her to her new 'bodyguards', they had forced her onto a plane, flown her to Washington, and enrolled her into some sort of school and then….

Darkness.

"I can't remember." Ismene sat up, crying out a bit as some of her muscles screamed their protest.

"You shouldn't move too much. Your wounds are very extensive."

Ismene glared darkly at the female. She was really starting to get on her nerves.

"What happened to me?" She asked, her voice telling the woman to stop stalling and just tell her what happened. Of course, something HAD to have happened. With such soreness moving throughout her body, Ismene knew something had to have happened.

"It seems you were rock climbing in gym and had reached the top. Unfortunately, your rope somehow broke and you fell. You didn't really break anything, but you have a lot of bruises and a very sore side." The woman read straight from the clipboard.

Ismene growled before lying back down, a wave of exhaustion suddenly crashing into her.

"Ms. Kelly, we have another one from Gym." A voice shouted, not knowing of the pounding headache Ismene had.

"Oh, dear, what happened?" She asked, moving away from Ismene to tend to the unseen patient.

"Nothing big, she just tripped on the rope, fell and got knocked out."

"Oh, poor Bella."

Ismene's heart stopped beating for just a second before accelerating. That name, that name was…was…

Bright lights flashed in her eyes before darkness quickly followed.

_She was floating, the ground far below her. Glancing around, her eyes settled on two figures. One was a boy, incredibly handsome, the-boyish-roguish looking type, but what caught her eyes was the dim color surrounding her. It was as if he was glowing a slight blue and a dash of flame red. _

_His aura, her mind whispered, already knowing what she did not. _

_Her eyes moved to the next person, a girl._

_Now, her colors were vibrant, ready to explode. Lemon, lavender, magenta set a blend of colors she could not identify. _

_A bit lost, she saw them arguing- but though, of course, it did not seem as if it was anything of importance, just the petty and unimportant kind. _

_From here though, she could tell that this was a common reaction between the two of them, the freaky-good-looking boy, and the explosive little girl. Seeing and hearing them, she knew this was one of many fights like these, and one of many to continue. _

_She smiled, it dimming when she remembered that this is what it would have been like with Damien- had they only been together longer._

_So she tried to go closer to them, hoping to hear some of the words- so for later on, she could imagine it, saying it to Damien, what he would say back to her._

_She did not have any other reference to make it off anyway._

_Ismene glanced around and floated closer to them, trying to catch some of the words._

"_She's here!" The female said a wave of orange pushing Ismene away a bit._

"_Are you sure?" He asked a tint of yellow mixing in his dim colors._

"_Positive, but what is strange, she smells like Edward, just human."_

"_This could be a problem." He muttered._

_Ismene moved in a bit closer, straining to hear the rest when a wild gust of wind began to push her back. _

_She opened her eyes slightly, but gasped when she notice two pairs of eyes trained on her floating body. _

_With her body frozen in shock at them seeing her, she let her body be blown backwards._

A wild gasp tearing through her throat, her eyes snapping open and a hand going back to her body, making sure, she was still altogether.

Her feet went to the floor instantly and she glanced at the resting body next to her.

_Bella_

Her mind whispered to her.

An image of the boy and the girl swept into her mind.

_Jasper and Alice_

Shaking her thoughts away, she moved to the female, a hand outstretched to simply touch her.

'Maybe I can go back to wherever I was if I just…'

"What are you doing?"

Her hand froze in mid-air while the rest if her turned to face the intruder.

"Who are you?"

"Who are _you_?" He asked, a possessive look settling on his face as he took notice of her hand so close to Bella.

_Edward_

She stepped back, her hand falling limply to her side and with a small glance, she pushed past Edward, mentally taking note of the hard feeling her fingertips stung with.

If she had looked back, she would have seen the shocked gaze sent her way. No one had ever pushed past him, except his sisters and brothers, but a human?

However, what if that girl was…was HER?

No way, SHE had died along with her clan, but there had never been a body. So, SHE could have escaped that horrible day, but how?

"Edward?" He snapped his attention to the quizzical face of his Bella.

"Who were you looking at?" Bella asked, simple wondering.

Edward shook his head, and moved closer to her, a smile of his face.

"You had a pretty nasty fall back in Gym."

She blushed in embarrassment.

Most people hated heights, but Ismene loved them. Roofs, tall trees, anything high up made her calm down and enjoy the breeze or in this case, the rain.

Even though, she would get sick or at the worst die, she ignored the feeling of being wet and closed her eyes.

Finally, being alone and without such petty worries, like homework, teachers, school or anything, she let the many waves of silent happiness wash through her.

"Ismene?"

A growl interrupted from her throat before she had time to stop it.

"Yes?"

"You'll get sick." She opened her eyes, only to force them upon the unsuspecting person.

"Deimos, I'll be fine."

"You are the human. I read somewhere that humans get colds from rain. Maybe we should get you back inside." He muttered, laying a slightly ridged hand on her shoulder. She noticed this and wondered what the problem was.

The rain would wash away any scent that could have been offensive, so what was the….

She remembered. She was still wearing her Gym uniform, which consisted of a pair of red shorts and a WHITE SHIRT!

With a squeak, her arms flew up to her chest, hiding anything that had not been shown which was not much.

He smiled slightly before guiding her off the slick room to the stairwell. As soon as they had made it under inside, he picked up a jacket he had left there on purpose.

"I thought you would need this." He said, placing it on her shoulders. She dropped her shoulder and quickly zipped in up.

"Thanks."

A tense silence followed.

"Why did you come get me?" She asked, her eyes downcast. Deimos instantly frowned.

Ismene let out a quiet and startled gasp as a cold hand grasped her chin and forced her eyes up.

"You are a young woman of beauty and intelligence; do not ever bow your head." She regarded him with a look of disbelief.

"Deimos, your flattery is useless. There are a lot of prettier and much more intelligent females here."

'Just like the Orphanage.' Her mind whispered making her eyes sink to the floor again.

He scowled at this and before he could take control, gripped her close, ignoring the raging monster screaming at him to just have a taste.

"Ismene, you are…"

"Special." She finished for him.

Her body took control and eagerly latched onto him. Maybe it was the lack of human contact, or even the fact she had not had a hug in months, but whatever it was, she accepted his minor comfort as if it was the last thing she would ever get.

"I wouldn't say special."

"Why not?"

"Because you are beyond words. Besides there isn't a word that could describe the furious mood swings you always seem to have."

He pulled her back, glared deep into her eyes, trying so hard to just express his want, his need for her without words. Maybe if he could just show her how much he wanted her, just maybe, she would forget about Damion and move on.

'Besides, it would make losing him a lot easier.' He thought, before forcing himself back into the present.

She shivered, whether from her clothes drying nice and cold on her or from the intense gaze coming from Deimos.

She tensed as she noticed his face getting closer and closer, leaning in for what would be her first kiss since Damion.

However, was she ready to betray Damion like at, especially after Daniel? Mentally shaking off those thoughts, she realized she would have to move on, even If she was leaving her first love behind, but was she truly ready? He had not died not that long ago, so she should still be mourning him. And kissing Deimos would not be mourning Damion.

"Deimos, I…"

As his eyes closed, as his lips drew closer, as he pulled their bodies closer, as everything began to fall into place for Deimos (or so he thought), a voice interrupted his magical moment and unknowingly saved Ismene from having to be forced into a kiss she wasn't ready for.

"DEIMOS!"


	11. Strangely

Title- Strangely

"Ready?"

Ha. She snorted.

No, she was not. How could she be? What happened on that roof should have never happened. It was not even freaking fair. Part of her hated the fact that Deimos had tried to force her while the other part of her hated the fact that Eunomia had interrupted.

It wasn't fair.

"Set?"

No, and she seriously was not sure if she'd ever be. Between feeling guilty about what happened and slightly itching to move on, she could hardly ever pick which part of her she should follow. A knife that was meant for her had killed Damion.

And Damion…clueless and faithful had thought he was doing something to save the only one who had eyes for him and only him. It threw her conscience into a mass of loud, guilt-filled words that moved into her dreams, haunting her sleeping and awake thoughts.

Guilty on all counts of murder. She had been sentenced to life in guilt without bail.

Now, she was leading Deimos on- or whatever you called it. She knew it was bad and she should address the matter, but the feeling of someone wanting her was haunting her conscience. Besides, it did give her an ego boost that most of the female population was craving him and he only had eyes for her.

"GO!"

She was shocked out of her thoughts as the crowd around her jumped out of their seats. She looked to the field and sort of smiled. Eunomia had made the track team and what better way to get on someone's good side was to cheer them on at their events.

Still, what was she going to do? She could tell that the next time she and Deimos were alone, he would once again make his move and she was not ready for another relationship. Her more shallow and normal part of her whispered into her ear that she was over Damion, wanted another relationship, but that was just not the case.

Damion had made an impact on her regardless of how little time they had together. He had left his mark on her heart and she was not sure if she would ever erase it.

She had at first thought his death had been fate, telling her to always remember her loved ones even if they had died. However, that was not it; it sounded too much like a cheap novel would at a gas station. He had died for her, showing the ultimate sign of love, maybe she would die for someone too. After all, doesn't history repeat itself?

Another cheer from the crowd shook her once again from her troubled thoughts. She could not handle her thoughts, her conscience and the roar of the crowd while trying to decide what she would do with her present life. Besides, if she made a mistake, it would influence her future in such a way….

She shuddered at the thought.

"Where are you going?"

She snapped around before tensing at the sight in front of her.

"D-Deimos? I was just taking a walk around the building to clear my head."

He did not respond, a look of something she could not name shining brightly in his eyes.

"What happened on the roof---" He started, but stopped and cocked his head to the right.

"Hey, I know your there so show yourself." He spoke to no one in particular. At first, Ismene thought he was losing his mind, but then she felt it. The feel of something cold on her arm returned, but only this time with more touches. There were more than them in this hallway.

_Vampires_

Her mind whispered, letting it echo before saying something else.

_Alice_

_Jasper_

_Edward_

Those names appeared in her mind, followed by images of each of them or so she assumed.

"I see you've found her." One voice called out before an actual body appeared.

"Her powers are awakening too." Another whispered before he appeared too.

"She feels familiar." The last person muttered appearing next to she guessed his siblings.

"You approach us in the middle of a hallway where some human can see us." Deimos stated, a bit of confusion coloring his tone. The last one to appear stepped forward.

"She belongs with us. We would have liked to meet somewhere more…private, but your intentions have been seen and we will not let anything happen to her. We ask now that you release her from your clutches." This "Edward" looked right past Deimos and stared into Ismene's eyes, confusion in them as if he were trying to figure out some sort of puzzle about her.

Deimos growled deep in his throat, threatening them to back off before thing got rough. Ignoring his warning, Edward advanced towards the frozen female as if trying to figure something out, but was soon stopped when Deimos shot out and stood in front of her like a protective shield.

"She is with us. It would be wise to not mess with our property."

She should have gotten upset or something at being called property, but right now, she was more worried about her safety. It looked like this Edward person did not like being cut off like that and growls were being thrown from both sides.

"Um I'm just going to go now." She froze in mid-step back as Deimos looked over his shoulder and gave her the coldest and most terrifying looks ever. His eyes were dark with animalistic hunger; his teeth were bared in such a way it reminded her of a feral dog about to attack anything that did not fall into submission.

Everything happened too fast for her to actually see with her human eyes, but somewhere in her mind, something clicked, forcing everything into slow motion that only her mind's eyes could see.

Somehow, she saw Edward dive at Deimos and Alice and Jasper dive at her. The images sped up again and she felt cold hands grasping her arms tight. A burning sensation followed the hands, spreading throughout her entire body, forcing her to cry out in pain. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that maybe if she shut her eyes, everything would disappear.

_The burning stopped. The hands fell away. The noise quieted. She opened her eyes, almost afraid to see what had made the group silent, only to see a clearing. She turned around, trying to see a way out, only to see trees as far as she could see._

"_She belongs with us." The voice surprised her. She turned back around and saw….Edward…Alice…Jasper…Deimos and Eunomia. They all seemed to be getting into a heated argument, yelling about some creature, or object that belonged to them._

_She inched herself closer, trying to hear the conversation. _

"_We found her and awakened her powers." Eunomia stated, her strings snapping against the trees. Alice stepped forward, her eyes frustrated._

"_You do not understand. I have seen the future. Ismene will not be willing to go with you." She shouted. Ismene mentally gasped. They were arguing over her. What for? Why? Did it have to do with that vision she had in the nurse's office? _

"_Your visions are not written in stone." Deimos whispered the cool tone in his voice made Ismene shiver in fear. _

"_But they have a chance of coming true. Give her to us!" Alice demanded. Deimos and Eunomia glanced at each other before turning away._

"_Ismene is in our care. It would be foolish to try and take her." They both said, complete unison. The three others growled at their disappearing forms, waves of anger, frustration, and possibly worry rolled off the trio._

"_They're going to the track meet tomorrow; We have to make our move then." Alice said, glancing at her companions. They nodded their agreement and all three left, the conversation between the five vampires leaving various notes of desperation and contradicting desires. _

"Edward." Alice called out, her voice telling him that they had Ismene.

"Wait, what are you doing? Let me go!" She snapped out of her "vision", struggled, and fought, but their hold on her stayed strong.

"I said let go!"

Everything turned to a whirlwind of colors. Somehow, a powerful breeze kicked up, moving loose papers that littered the hall to turn into mini tornadoes, flicks of red and black shot through the air like lightning and a dark outline moved over Ismene's limp body.

It looked from an outsider's point of view she was awake just limp, but in reality, she was unconscious. Her subconscious had completely taken over her mind and her powers. Somewhere deep down, it knew exactly what to do and began to carry out its orders.

A flaccid hand rose, cackles of power following its line of movement. It glowed a dark- red before turning completely black.

A swish of her hand and all four vampires felt the pain that came with being slammed against lockers, only letting them have a taste of what her powers could do.

If she was powerful enough to have them feel pain from a locker, what else could she do?

Ismene's voice echoed throughout the halls, but somehow an undercurrent could be heard as if she was not really speaking normally. Someone was just using her body to get the message clear and unbeknownst to the five vampires, Ismene could hear every word.

"You have awakened me. Prepare to feel the wrath that comes with that. I sense you are all after my human form, except you."

Ismene floated to where Deimos lay, head turned away from the burning green eyes.

"You want my human form, but for your job, you want my wepire form. Interesting. I sense feelings from you for this human girl."

Ismene's body floated back from him before saying a few last words.

"Do not think this is over. Bound me, chain me, but I will escape."

And with that, her body fell to the floor, thankfully, it was already close enough not to do damage.

She lay still and if it were not for her rising and falling chest, they would have thought her dead.

"She is staying with us." Deimos whispered, gently picking her off the floor and holding her as if he were crying the most fragile piece of glass he would ever hold.

The other three glared into his eyes but nodded their consent and moved to let him by. He growled his welcomes and moved out of the school.

If this wepire were truly awakened, the Volturi would have to act fast if they wished to control it. It was only a matter of time before Ismene and the wepire formed together to be an uncontrollable source of power.

No that she would destroy the world or anything; it was just that she would not be able to be used to anyone's whims but her own.

He moved quickly, not bothering to tell his sister about the incident. She would smell what happened or eh would simply explain later, but right now, Ismene needed to get home before something else happened that set her off. And this time it would be more publicized.

"It was awakened fully."

She frowned at the sound of voices. She wanted to sleep just a bit more before trying to figure out what happened. Her hand pounded and she really did not want to have to deal with any of her life problems.

"You should have protected her better!" Someone shouted, obviously angry that whatever they were talking about had been awakened.

"I understand."

"No matter. What's done is done. Does she remember?"

"She's still sleeping it off."

"I see. Report to me what she tells you. If she remembers and understands what happened, we will have to move faster than right now and there is a high chance that we will lose her to the werewolves. After all, she is technically one of them."

"She does not carry the scent of them though."

"She is also technically one of us."

"I don't—"

"Enough! You do not need to know about Ismene. Just protect her and things will run a lot smoother. Remember to report back to me."

Some weird sound floated to her ears before silence embraced the house. What were they talking about? She had heard werewolves and vampires mentioned, but someone had said she was both of them. She had always though she was human.

And just for the record, what had been fully awakened?

She sat up, released a loud yawn before moving from her room to the downstairs where she knew Deimos and Eunomia were.

"Deimos? Eunomia?"

They looked up, eyes unreadable, but waited for her question.

"What happened at the race?"

"What do you remember?" Deimos asked, testing her memory.

Should she lie and tell him she did not remember? She had seen everything as if she had been in this little shell inside her body watching her own movements without feeling anything.

"I remember us in the hallway and then nothing." She lied, hoping it would work. She read their eyes as soon she saw their shoulders drop. Both of them had relief painted across their face.

"You backed up and hit your head against a locker and fell pretty hard which is why you don't remember."

"Oh. Anyway, Eunomia how was the race?"

She plastered a fake smile across her face and listened with intent, but her mind was somewhere else.

Three other vampires were after her for some reason, she was part werewolf and part vampire, Deimos and Eunomia were hiding information from her and let us not forget her love life or the lack thereof.

From now on, she would have to find things out by herself, protect herself (from what she did not know) and depend on no one but herself.


	12. Finally 2

Title- Finally

After maybe around fifteen separate tries, Ismene found that trying to sneak around vampires was not the easiest thing to do. At first, she thought ditching Deimos to hide in all the girly places was the best way, but she had forgotten that Eunomia was also body guarding her. She barely even had time to think about digging for information because either Deimos or Eunomia were up in her face, asking about whatnot and talking about everything. It was as if they knew what she was thinking about doing beforehand.

And what if they did? She pondered. The obviously had some sort of ability to figure out when she was thinking about something, so figuring out what she did and didn't know would have been easy, but then again, she had always thought her actions, behavior and the way she talked gave away her secrets.

They obviously had some sort of power and they could be reading her mind, figuring out what she knew / what she didn't know, but then why would they ask what she had remembered if they already knew? Unless they were trying to trick her into believing they did not know!

"AH HA!" She exclaimed, slamming her fist against her desk. Lost in thought-and not happy ones either, she had forgotten she was in the middle of her class and in the middle of a test.

"Ms. Monta, disrupt my class again and we will see the principal about your yelling." The teacher shouted back, glaring at her fro behind his desk. Mumbling an apology, she went back to work quietly.

She promptly finished the test and looked around for everyone who had been staring at her when she had blurted out a few moments ago, were now looking down at their test and working to finish it- except for, of course, one pair of eyes. Glaring back, challenging him, she found the eyes held an untactful smirk.

_Edward_ Her mind whispered.

Mentally nodding, she continued to glare back at him. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and the feeling of being pushed against had returned. She had felt it all through class, dismissing it as her imagination, but seeing him, concentrate summoned some suspicion.

The feeling got stronger and stronger, pushing against her. And not making any progress either, it only end up pushing even more.

_STOP! _Her mind screamed, the feeling instantly disappearing. She relaxed just a bit before opening her eyes (not knowing when she closed them) and looked back at him. He wore a shocked and confused look on his face, but then diverted his eyes. She smirked in sweet victory before turning back around.

Whatever had happened, she had stopped it. She blamed it on this "Wepire" thing Eunomia and Deimos kept talking about to each other. It was starting to get on her nerves that the more that she tried to understand and find out about her hidden monster thingy; the harder it was to live with Deimos and Eunomia, along with the knowledge of more vampires. She felt like she was trapped in a dream turned nightmare, failing to awake from it. She needed answers to her questions, something to point her in a direction that she could understand…

She needed a sign.

The bell rang and she exited the classroom, knowing Deimos and Eunomia would be waiting for her.

"Wait." She paused slightly, but walked even faster when she saw who was calling out for her.

"Ismene!" He reached out and grabbed her arm, halting her escape.

"Edward what do you want?" She demanded, yanking her arm away. He obviously had not remembered that a supposed to be human could rip her arm out of his grip so easy.

"How do you know my name?" He asked.

"I don't know; I just do, so can I go now?" Ismene turned around and started walking towards the usual spot where she and the siblings met up. For some strange reason, she never really liked being around Edward. He always seemed too close to her, despite where he was. It was as if he was…connected to her in some way, whether it is by her Wepire, but whatever it was, she did not like it.

"You have power you can't explain. You know something but it does not make sense. You have lost everything, but you feel its still there. The Volturi, they've messed with your life." He blurted out, just trying to keep her from going back to Deimos and Eunomia. He knew that if she went back to them, fully trusting the two vampires, his chance of protecting her would be lost. And he would not let that happen to his little sister.

She paused at what he said, tensed and startled at his knowledge.

"How do you—"

"Meet me after school; I can explain everything." He whispered, smiling slightly, knowing she had heard. She hesitated. What if this was some trap? Obviously, Eunomia and Deimos were protecting her, but what if they were the bad guys? Should she just ignore these signs and continue to live with people…no vampires she barely knew anything about? And what about this Edward and his family? What if they were—

"Ismene!" She turned at the sound of her name and waved to Deimos, who (thank the gods) could not see Edward in the midst of all the students rushing around the pair.

"I've got to go." She quickly said before dashing to meet the siblings. Edward watched her leave, his mind whirling. She had resisted his telepath and even entered his mind. He was sure she did not realize the magnitude of the power she carried within her body and if Deimos, Eunomia and the Volturi continued to poison her mind, she would die before even releasing it. And as her brother, he would not let that happen.

The one thing she liked about Forks was the rain. Forks had a high school, right in the middle of it all as well. She loved it- not mattering how hard it fell, how it splattered on the windshields, blurring her vision, and even that fact that it had the potential to make her sick- worried her not.

All of her semi-friends complained about the rain just about, as much as she loved the rain. While she had the capacity to explain her love to herself, she found she could not around other people- because they would require words, she just had five senses.

It was her feeling of touch, for instance, that allowed the weight on her shoulders which made her droop and bend low all the time, to finally be washed away in the soft torrents of the flowing water.

And the best thing was that her thoughts quieted, her mind stopped and her body relaxed and a feeling she had not felt in a while washed over her.

Peace

She tensed.

Something was wrong, amiss. It felt too peaceful, too relaxed, too….planned.

Her mind sprang back to life. Her hidden powers flared. The world tightened.

Her eyes looked around, trying to pinpoint the problem. She could tell it was near, but just not where.

_Below_

Once again, the power within her flared and she looked below, just to see someone wearing a hoodie with the hood up, turn around and move away.

"Stop." She yelled, but the person kept running. She looked at the stairs behind her and frowned. Ismene knew that she could not make it down and still capture the guy, so there was only one choice.

She backed up and gazed at the railing. This was too crazy. Any normal human would know that jumping off a roof would kill them, but luckily, she was not a normal human.

She felt the wind, the rain and the jump off the rail. It was exhilarating, but she could not dwell on the feeling too long. She gazed at the rapidly approaching ground and froze up.

Of course, she knew that she could easily jump off the rail but what about landing? She braced herself for what was about to the most painful experience of her life, only to feel the ground gently greet her feet.

'What?'

She did not have time to ponder. The guy was already in the parking lot about to get into what looked like a very expensive car.

"Okay, I don't know how to do this and I hope I don't do something stupid." She closed her eyes, envisioning herself moving.

It was nothing more than a slow motion movie to her. She saw her body blur, her legs move, and her hand reaching out to stop the car from leaving.

She saw the person gasping in surprise, but kept his head down. She reached for the hood, only to grasp air.

Her eyes opened and she froze when she felt two arms encircle her waist and pin her to the back on the car.

She struggled and tried to concentrate, but the guy obviously knew that her thinking would mean his downfall. He easily pushed her down, leading her to grasp for breath, and looking up at him from the ground.

"Who are you?" She dared to ask. He remained silent, but let her up, gently brushing her hurting stomach as if saying sorry.

She turned around, reached for hood, only to change courses, and aimed a punch towards his cheek. He smirked, kissed her cheek and then disappeared.

At first, she was surprised she missed, but then growled. Whoever that was, she knew they would be back and would do more damage than just punching her stomach.

The vampire stepped out into the rain and he looked around the parking lot to see any sign of his sister.

He smiled.

Even in the rain, her shirt hanging off her, heavy and her hair ragged, she looked like a goddess.

Her eyes were closed, long lashes resting against her only slightly tanned skin. Pouty lips were turned down in a slight frown and two piercing were in her left ear. Long black hair, wet and beginning to dry only in the slightest, hung away from her head, creating an ebony waterfall.

She almost looked too peaceful to even bother.

Almost

"What do you want to know?" He asked, watching her fiddle with the fries that had come with her burger. She paused, took her time to gaze at all the other people in the restaurant before snapping her gaze back to him.

"What is a Wepire?"

He leaned back in his seat and smiled.

"Honestly, I don't know for sure. Carlisle has only mentioned it a few times."

_The vampire father of the Cullen family_

He shivered at the surge of power that swept him. "He said that a Wepire is both werewolf and vampire. They are chosen to be what they are; they cannot choose. He also said that a Wepire was created to keep the werewolves and the vampires from killing each other, excessively."

She noticed how he emphasized that word.

"But something happened. All the Wepires just disappeared and could not be found, so the vampires and the werewolves fought and fought until finally one final Wepire appeared and put them at semi-peace, but died while at it. She was very powerful or so Carlisle says."

"But where did the Wepires go?"

"No one knows. Some say they all died of natural causes, others think they were killed, and some think they abandoned their duties."

"So you think I am a Wepire? What am I supposed to do? Aren't the werewolves and vampires at semi-peace?"

"When a Wepire appears, all the werewolves and vampires feel it; a sense of peace if you will. What you are supposed to do I have no idea, but the Volturi are plotting something. Something that could tear the treaty between the two groups apart and then the Killing starts again."

She leaned back and took it all in. So this person was telling her, she needed to stop the Volturi, bring peace to the two groups and make sure it stayed that way.

No way.

She could barely deal with finding a date to any of the dances and now he was telling her she needed to fight some sort of evil.

"I feel like I'm in a comic book." She muttered.

"You have another question?"

"Eunomia and Deimos, are they working for the Volturi?"

Edward had to hesitate. He still remembered the first time he had contact with the Wepire, where it had said how Deimos had feelings for his sister. If it turned out that Deimos would use these feelings to his advantage, it could spell doom for many many lives. So there was only one way to handle things.

"Yes. That is why they have been so over-protective of you. They are trying to keep you from us, so you are more vulnerable when the Volturi come to use your power."

Her heart stopped. And just when she had begun to think of the siblings as her family. Just when she was about to maybe, pursue something with Deimos. Just when she had thought, her ache would end.

Nothing could ever stay right where she was concerned.

'I should have known.'

"What should I do now?" She whispered, her voice wavering, showing her deep betrayal and how hurt she was, even consulting him for advice.

Edward could not help but feel a bit guilty about it.

"Don't tell them anything. Act the same and try not to believe anything they say and remember one thing," He stopped to grab her shaking fingers. "You are never alone."

Looking up from her lap, she met his secure eyes. All of her suppressed and forgotten memories rushed back at her in a single moment. The excruciating feeling of being too close to someone, and everything that went with it- the strain, the warmth, the _love- _even though she knew that did not come in this case; it all rushed back and just by looking into his eyes.

Besides the feeling of uncomfortable closeness, she began to like the feeling. It was as if she was being rocked back and forth constantly, being reassured that she would be safe although a storm was raging outside. Whatever it was, whatever it was, it made her feel torn, confused.

She broke their gaze, finding the floor a lot more interesting. Somehow, her subconscious whispered what she had been secretly hoping, but her more rational side pushed forward, dismissing the slight dash of hope that the Edward sitting in front of her was the same Edward she had loved and grown up with.

She scoffed and dismissed the idea. Edward had died years ago and there was no way he could have lived.

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she still doubted that he was her brother. With a mental shake of his head, he decided not to push it. One day, Ismene would remember and then finally he could have his younger sister back. A small smile completed his thought.

She sighed a deep sigh as if everything was weighing on her shoulders and this was the only time she could relax.

"Take me home?"

He nodded and moved to take the check.

It was dark by the time she made it home. Even though it was a fruitless effort to try to sneak in, she knew Deimos and Eunomia would hear her come in.

"Thanks for the food." She whispered, moving to unhook her seatbelt, only to be stopped by her newfound brother.

"Ismene, be careful." He whispered. She nodded and exited the car. He backed out and left her there, standing on the porch. She took a deep breath, ready to face the music and entered the house.

"Deimos, Eunomia, I'm home." She called out, getting ready to make up excuses only to hear nothing. Of course, the sibling could be giving her the silent treatment, but she thought Eunomia was a bit too mature for such things.

She shrugged and made her way to the TV. Maybe something other than reality and game shows were on. She flicked the TV on and began to channel surf.

_She was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming and tried to wake up but something was preventing her from doing anything but stand there, surrounded in darkness waiting._

"_We met again, Ismene." A voice, the same angelic and calm one from before, stated. She looked around, wondering where it was coming from._

"_I don't understand. You said things would become clear, but as I understand, I run into more questions." She yelled, hoping she was talking to someone and not just yelling into the air._

_A small light moved from her chest, growing bigger and bigger until finally it was just about her size. It began to shape, form, and mold to look like the figure of a woman. It dimmed down before Ismene could see the face, the body quickly following._

"_You look like me." She whispered, reaching to touch the glowing woman. Her twin chuckled and leaned her cheek into the touch. _

"_I am you." She whispered, a gentle smile working its way on her face as Ismene gave her a confused look._

"_But how is this possible?"_

"_I am your Wepire form." She explained. Ismene took this in. Giving the look-alike a quick look over, she admitted to herself, she had not expected her Wepire to look like this. Maybe some fur and fangs, she guessed a werewolf, but she mentally commented, she did look nice. _

_The twin had the same green eyes with her normal black hair, but the various strange markings on her arms, legs, and even face were very different. They seemed to curve, and circle her natural features only to cross over them and then meet up with each other. _

"_Young Ismene, you have so much to learn and so little time. What Edward said is true. You must not follow anything they say. I am not sure if Deimos has feelings for you, but either way, you must keep your guard up." Ismene did not like the fact that her counterpart sounded so worried._

_She tensed at this. _

_Deimos and Eunomia…were hired to poison her mind; she knew that, but it still stung to hear it repeated. She had trusted them with everything and now they were planning to just use her for some plan. Eunomia she had always guessed that she was just doing some sort of job by the way she acted around Ismene, but Deimos… She had thought he could actually help her get over Damion or at least be a good friend._

"_This must be hard for you; I understand, but I must ask a favor."_

_She snapped out of her thoughts and waited for the request._

"_There are some werewolves that need to meet you. Find a way to LaPush and look for Sam Uley; he will lead you to the others. He is---" Her twin stopped, lifted her head and frowned darkly._

"_Deimos and Eunomia have returned. I have to go before they feel the excessive energy you are giving off. Be sure to remember though, you are never alone."_

_The woman melted into herself before returning to a small light. She watched as it entered her body again and felt a warm feeling move through her. _

She awoke to a pair of eyes staring down at her.

"Where were you today?" Deimos asked, a frown on his face. Ismene yawned, just to add to the part that she had gotten home hours ago and had been sleeping along.

"I was hanging with some friends; it was an impromptu shopping trip. Sorry if I worried you." She apologized, looking from under her eyelashes and giving him the biggest 'I'm too cute for you to be mad at' look, using her charm and Deimos feelings for her to her advantage.

Deimos, taken by surprise by her sudden flirtatious behavior, settled beside her, a slight smile on his face.

Of course, she knew it was wrong to mess with his mind like that- and for someone to have a crush on HER was a bit of a stretch, she still hoped that if she played her cards right, her plan could work, eventually getting Deimos on her side, and Eunomia being forced to follow.

With the information Edward had given her, she knew she should try her hardest to forget them, but something about the sibling stood out to her. It was as if she knew they were not the bad ones here. Hopefully with a lot luck, she could escape without too much damage.

Maybe, she hoped.


	13. Confusion

Title- Confusion

She entered the house, school being over and the weekend finally pushing its way through the haze of schoolwork. For the first time in what felt like years, Ismene had the house to herself.

Eunomia and Deimos had left, saying that they had important business to attend to. Her wepire had whispered to her constantly they had left to "hunt"? Hunt what? And why would they leave to hunt when they should be protecting her?

She had dropped it, grateful to be given a break from Eunomia's constant attitude and Deimos's impatience with her. Maybe they would come back a bit calmer after they finished "hunting"?

She collapsed into her bed, a sigh of fatigue rumbling through the room. Her life, this life, had not been what she had expected.

Her eyes stared up at the ceiling, not looking but remembering the happy years when she was the naïve 8-year-old, dreaming about it all, you know, the Prince Charming coming to awake her from her sleep, that she'd suddenly fall in love, get married, have kids of her own- having already had picked out names then. Vampires, werewolves, _wepires, _none of them were a part of the life she had dreamed of, wanted.

Tears blurred the ceiling.

Everything had changed. In a moment, her life, her dreams, her hopes, her desires had changed drastically. She didn't even _like _what being a wepire entailed from the second Edward told her what it was, and then learning that it had caused her to be protected, guarded, losing her family and experiencing so much...nothing, really.

It was boring, actually, being caged and confided, something in her always telling her things, knowing she was not allowed to act on it.

Sobs, uncontrolled, spilled from her mouth. She remembered her life, flashes and bits of it before all this happened, and her brother- Edward, her mother- eyes looking imaginary, and her father, always stout and proud of what he had built for them. Even the imaginary dog she had, Rose.

However, life had shown her too much for imagination to be allowed anymore. Now she could only imagine Rose wanting to kill her. Nothing more- but perhaps eat her too.

She imagined her mother, wearing a warm smile and bringing in her favorite breakfast, to comfort her, telling her it was all a dream and it was not real.

She imagined her father, throwing her high in the air, giving her that feeling of fear for just a second before catching her. He would laugh and tickle her until they both were breathless.

Then her brother.

She smiled through her tears.

Oh how she looked up to him. He had been her role model. Courageous, smart, kind, he had been the one thing she had wanted to be more than anything in the world. She had wished so hard to be as brave as he had, to be as nice as him, to be as cool as him.

And even though, they fought, argued, bickered, they had loved each other, protected each other. They had had their rare moments of affection, of kindness.

'To see just how they were after I "died".' Her eyes closed, but that did nothing to stop the tears, the sobs. If anything, they fell faster, harder.

Her chest heaved, her body trembled. Nothing could stop the torrent of pain coursing through her.

"_Help him." A weak whisper echoed, obviously in serious pain. _

She struggled to stop crying. Something was whispering to her, telling her to open her eyes, to see what was in front of her. With as much energy she could muster, she opened her eyes, wiping at the streaks of tears, sniffling ever so slightly.

She gasped.

She was in a hospital; the Saint Michael hospital that had existed back in her timeline, back when she was normal.

Ismene, unsure of what was happening, stepped forward. Many sick bodies littered each wall, all of them coughing, wheezing, and gasping in the pain of dying.

"_Ismene?"_ _A shocked cough._

She turned to the person that recognized her and gasped. Her own mother was among the ones dying?

"_You are back." She moaned out, falling back into the bed, a rough cough echoing throughout the room. _

"_Mother, where's Edward and Dad? What happened to you?"_

"_My time is limited on this Earth and I wish I could ask you how you escaped those horrible men, but first I must answer your questions."_

_She took in a breath as if it would be her last. _

"_Your father has died from the_ _influenza going around. And Edward, he is only minutes away just like the rest of us."_

_Ismene felt the tears coming back. So after her "death", her family had died, not long after and she had not been able to be there, at least in spirit to comfort them. She kneeled by the bedside, clutching her mother's hand tightly._

"_Where is he now?" She whispered._

"_He is being checked out by Carlisle."_

"_The vampire?" Ismene exclaimed before stopping the words. She hesitated to look into her mother's curious eyes. _

"_Ismene, you silly girl. There are no such things as vampires. I told your brother to stop lending you his horror books." She scolded. _

_Ismene smiled. Her mother, always ready to scold, even on her deathbed. She was pulled from her thoughts as a terrible cough burst from her mother's heaving chest. _

"_It may be too late for your father to see you, but go see your brother. Let him know you are all right. We were so worried when you disappeared."_

_She placed a warm kiss against her mother's temple and left the room, letting the tears she had been holding back finally fall. Her final moments with her mother…she had never expected them to be like that. _

_Nevertheless, no way to change the past. _

_Instead of attending to her dying brother, she walked out of the hospital, hoping to breathe in air. Air that was not filled with death, illness, sadness, pain…_

_Doctors, nurses, they all rushed by her as if she wasn't there, running to attend to patients, to tell them they would be okay, to avoid the fact that death for them was just around the corner._

_Taking a bit more time to gather herself, she walked back into the hospital, peeking into rooms, checking for Edward. _

_As she moved, watching the young, the old, succumb to the horrors of death, she took hesitating steps towards the other rooms. _

_Since there were not that many rooms in the first place, she easily found her brother's room. A tight breath escaped her lips. Did she really need to see her dying brother?_

_She knew he had died along with the family. Either the flu took him or old age. On a subconscious level, she had always thought he was indestructible. Nothing could ever take her brother away from her; she really did not need to see him, weak, in pain, coughing, frail…_

_However, she could not let him die, wondering if she had ever escaped, if she had ever died, if…if…if…_

_With another breath, she began to push the doors open, only to pause and look through the glass. Some guy was standing over her brother's bed, holding his body, hesitating. _

_She was about to push the doors open, demanding him to release her brother, but then she saw something that would forever haunt her. _

_He, the seemed to be doctor, tilted Edward's head, reared back his head and bit down on the exposed neck. She mentally screamed as she took in what the horror-fiction books had described. She could do nothing but watch, although she wanted to stop what looked to be a painful process._

"_Everything will be fine." He assured a bloody smile on his lips. _

"_Your mother wanted this and I hope you won't regret it."_

Darkness had fallen by the time she felt like descending the stairs. Her mother, her father, they both had died, but her brother…

Her brother had been bitten, by a vampire and from what the books told her, vampires live forever unless touched by the sun, so that would mean her brother, her Edward had survived, had lived through the illness and was still alive, unless he had been touched by the sun.

She dismissed the thoughts. Somehow, something told her he was still "alive" and "functioning".

"Deimos?"

"Eunomia?"

Both questions were answered with silence. Flicking the light on in the kitchen, she leaned into a counter, her mind in a permanent whirlwind.

If Edward was still alive, where was he? How had she gone back into the…past? Who was the person that bit Edward? Why did she have a wepire inside her? When would she fully understand it? When would she get used to the abilities she obviously had? Who was Sam Uley? What happened to Damion?

She had too many questions.

_The Cullens_

She straightened up. Her wepire, she…it seemed to be in pain. The way she had whimpered the thought to her as if tired, hurting.

"Are you okay?" She asked aloud, not knowing how to communicate with something inside her.

_Used too much energy_

"I haven't done anything today that would have caused you to use any energy."

_The teleportation to the past. _

"That was you?"

_Who else. Our abilities, they are controlled by thoughts, imagination, the mind if you will. Whenever you think about something, it happens._

"That would explain why things disappear, change or whatever whenever I think about it."

_You were thinking about your family so hard, that I had no other choice but to comply with your demand. The past jump was so far back it required a lot of energy, a lot of power._

"I'm so sorry. Will you be okay?"

_I just need a goodnight's sleep. _

Ismene bit her lip. She really wanted to go to the Cullens' home. If Carlisle had bitten her brother, he was her only chance to find him. Besides, her friends had been talking about how extravagant the Cullen house was, so curiosity was edging her along.

"Would it be okay if we went to the Cullen house?"

A small whimper and then a long groan.

_Fine, but please, no more energy._

Worry crawling its way into her mind, she almost decided against going, but her mind firmly and loudly told her this was possibly her only chance to talk to the Cullens without Eunomia and Deimos breathing down her neck.

Then a thought hit her.

Where was the Cullen house?

And just how was she going to get there?

Eunomia and Deimos had taken both cars, leaving her without any transportation. Glancing outside, she ruled walking to be very dangerous even in a small town. Her fingers curled into a fist.

Every time she wanted to do anything, Deimos and Eunomia were always holding her back.

_Stop being an idiot. Call Edward._

A blush of embarrassment and fingers then reached for the phone, hoping to remember Edward's number.

XX

"Ismene, what do I owe the pleasure?" A voice behind her asked, a cold hand resting on her shoulder. She jerked out of her awe at the décor and sheer size of the house to turn and look at the "father" of the rest of the vampires.

"Mr. Cullen, it's nice to see you in person this time." She said, smiling a bit. After such a long time away from friendly faces (excluding Edward) and warm smiles, it felt refreshing to finally see one.

"Please call me Carlisle." They moved to the living room, settling into one of the many couches, spotting the cookies on the coffee table.

"Very well, Carlisle, I have something very important to ask of you." Ismene reached for a cookie, took a bite and then fiddled with it. In truth, the cookie was fantastic, almost as good as mom used to make…almost, but her appetite left her as her mind finally wrapped around what she was thinking about.

Her brother was alive somewhere, thinking she was long dead and now she could finally meet up with someone who could help her escape from this…this.

The Cullens were nice and all, but their "warmth" was nothing to the warmth of her true family.

"I can tell it must be something serious for you to run away from Deimos and Eunomia."

"I didn't escape from them. They went hunting? and left me alone."

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at this and nodded. This could be the chance they had been hoping for. Ismene needed to get to the werewolves, to balance out the input of vampire and werewolf. Doing a mental checklist, he concluded that only Edward and Rosalie were here to drive Ismene.

Carlisle knew, though Edward was normally mild-mannered to most things, his son would not be able to control himself when the werewolves started to train young Ismene. Blood was bound to be shed, bones broken and bruises acquired.

Sometimes Edward's overprotective nature came out at the worst times.

He had been hoping for someone near and dear to Ismene to be with her while the training and Rosalie, though warm when you got to know her and her you, would not be the same as Edward.

Then came the issue of getting one of them over the boundary without any treaty breaking. He was sure Ismene had not acquired the ability to change the treaty to her liking and her words were not going to be good enough.

A sigh echoed in his mind. He would have to attend with them to make sure everything was going to be okay.

"Well what was your question?" He asked, returning from his thinking to the task at hand. The werewolves could wait for a few minutes while he handled what he guessed was an important issue.

"You bit my brother; do you know where he is?" Ismene prepared herself for the worst. If Carlisle did not know, that wasn't too bad, but what if something happened? What if Edward had still died? What if something had gone wrong?

She took in Carlisle surprised expression, taking it as a bad thing and tried her hardest to hold back the tears. If she were meant to meet up with her brother, she would have.

She had to keep that in mind.

"He is well."

Well? What does that mean? Therefore, he knew Edward was okay, which meant he knew where he was, which meant she could finally see her brother again.

Tears of sadness and pain turned to anticipation and happiness.

"Where is he?" She eagerly asked, her heart beating wildly. Finally, a ray of hope in this darkness.

"I-" He paused, his body ridged.

The scent of fresh blood, of wood, of various animals.

Eunomia and Deimos had returned from their hunting. Carlisle stood and gently pulled Ismene from the couch, heading towards the garage, knowing Edward and Rosalie were going to be there.

"We will need to cross the boundary to make sure she is safe and to explain to the werewolves." He whispered, moving into the car along wit the three teens. As Rosalie began to drive towards the Quileute land, hoping her father knew what he was doing.

"Ismene, we will continue this conversation at a different time." He whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. She did not really know what was going on, but she knew that placing her trust in the Cullens would be the best bet rather than stopping everything and asking questions.

She only hoped she was not making a mistake.

XX

Ismene exited the car, following the rest of them, wondering what they were doing. She did not want to question, but the curiosity was poking her in the side. Carlisle had said that Eunomia and Deimos were back, so she guessed they were escaping from them, but why would the Cullens need to escape?

They had numbers and strength. Eunomia and Deimos only had each other, but then the thought hit her about the Volturi.

Technically, they also had the Volturi and she was not sure how many people were parts of the group. And from what her wepire constantly whispered to her, the Volturi were not ones to mess with unless you had some sort of half vampire, half werewolf living in you.

This also brought up the question of werewolves.

In the books, they had been described as the enemies of vampires, vicious, bloodthirsty and dangerous. So shouldn't the vampire side and the werewolf side of her wepire be clashing against each other?

_They sometimes do, but only when the balance of vampire and werewolf is off balance_

"How are you anyway?" She asked her wepire, receiving some strange looks from her company.

_Okay I guess. I am still a bit weak, but not as much._

"Good."

"Who are you talking to?" Rosalie asked, a bit curious. This human, this girl, smelled funny.

Not bad funny, not good funny, but funny.

It was a bit of that human soap and shampoo, a clean dog and something unbearably sweet. It made her nose…itch, but it also made her feel giddy. Like she wanted to laugh, smile, jump, and then breathe in more of the scent just to do it again.

'Strange.' She thought.

"I was talking to my wepire." She answered a slight smile on her lips as the silliness of the word actually escaped her lips. Rosalie nodded and stopped, centimeters away from the boundary.

"What now?" She asked, speaking to both Edward and Carlisle.

"We need Ismene to cross. That will summon them and then we can start the negotiations." Carlisle answered, prompting Ismene.

Now, she walked forward, crossing what she guessed was the boundary. She gasped, her body tingling as she crossed from the vampire she was to the werewolf awaking inside her. Her wepire howled in sweet pleasure as she continued to walk forward.

She let the feeling wash over her and soaked it up as much as she could before the feeling of being just too hot overcame her. Suddenly, her short sleeve jean outfit was too hot for such weather. She desperately needed to loose some layers before she fainted with heat stroke.

"Ismene, is everything okay?" She looked like she was dying or at least in some serious pain and then he saw the trickle of sweat coming from her scalp rolling down her cheek.

All three vampires gazed at her worried. They could not help her; she had crossed the boundary and it did not look like she could walk back over.

_Ismene!_

"What is happening to me?"

_You have been around vampires so long that the feeling of being cold and being 'dead' did not bother you. Now you are experiencing werewolf for the first time and so rapidly. Your body is trying to adapt._

Her vision began to swim, her stomach rolled, her legs gave out from under her. She fell to the ground, heaving, sweating, the voices of Rosalie, Edward, and Carlisle fading into the background.

'What's going on?'

'**Who is this girl?**'

'_What do the bloodsuckers want?'_

So many thoughts bombarded her. Her mind struggled to contain it all. Her wepire, three other voices, her own thoughts, it was too much. Her eyes closed, her body sagged, her mind shutting down to protect itself.

Edward watched, helpless, as his sister fainted, her body, her mind finally giving in to the creeping darkness. He wanted so bad to rush over there and hold her before those _**DOGS**_ manhandled her, but Carlisle had a firm hold on his arm.

"What do you want Bloodsuckers?" Quil asked, a frown on his face, paying no attention to Ismene.

Edward, already emotionally disturbed, glared darkly at the wolf, almost daring him to touch his little sister.

Carlisle, sensing the possible fight, stepped in.

"We have come across a wepire, Ismene. She has been brought here to train with you. I do believe it says that when a wepire is born, you, the werewolves, help her realize her full potential."

The three werewolves looked at the body, sniffing quick and then smirked.

"So she is the wepire. Interesting. We will take her to Sam and see what he says about training her." Quil motioned for Embry to pick up the body and then turned to leave only to stop at Jacob's voice.

"There is something else you want to tell us?"

Carlisle sighed, but still answered the question.

"Ismene has two caretakers, Eunomia and Deimos. They have been assigned by the Volturi to protect her and to destroy anything that tries to stop them from doing their job. They will more than likely come over here looking for her."

Jacob nodded and glanced at Ismene, a strong feeling of warmth sweeping against him. He felt the urge to purr, to whimper in sweet pleasure, but he pushed it down, ignoring the weird looks from his fellow wolves.

He thought it would just stop, but just after the first wave, another followed. It felt like something was drawing him to the passed out girl, something that would not be ignored and would not be destroyed.

He growled and tried to shake the feeling. It moved away, but he knew it would return in a matter of seconds.

He turned with the rest of the pack, but growled at the smirk the mind reading bloodsucker had on his face. That vampire knew something he did not and he hated when that leech had an advantage.

"I know you don't owe me anything, but take care of Ismene." Edward's voice held a heavy tone of desperation as Ismene's body was taken away.

Jacob scoffed at his tone, but nodded, knowing that a wepire was very important and death of a wepire meant the death of many vampires and werewolves.

* * *


End file.
